Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)

The 1996–2001 Afghan Civil War took place between the Taliban's conquest of Kabul and their establishing of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan on 27 September 1996, and the US and UK invasion of Afghanistan on 7 October 2001: a period that was part of the Afghan Civil War that had started in 1989, and also part of the war (in wider sense) in Afghanistan that had started in 1978.

The Islamic State of Afghanistan government remained the recognized government of Afghanistan of most of the international community, the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan however received recognition from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.

The defense minister of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Massoud, created the United Front (Northern Alliance) in opposition to the Taliban. The United Front included all Afghan ethnicities: Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Turkmens, some Pashtuns and others. During the conflict, the Taliban received military support from Pakistan and financial support from Saudi Arabia. Pakistan militarily intervened in Afghanistan, deploying battalions and regiments of its Frontier Corps and Army against the United Front. Al-Qaeda supported the Taliban with thousands of imported fighters from Pakistan, Arab countries, and Central Asia.

Main participants

Ahmad Shah Massoud (for the United Front and the Islamic State of Afghanistan), Mullah Mohammad Omar (for the Taliban) and Osama Bin Laden together with Ayman al-Zawahiri (for Al-Qaeda and different Arab interests) were the main leaders of the war residing in Afghanistan. There were other leaders, mainly from Pakistan (like Pervez Musharraf and later General Mahmud) on the one side and from the United Front (i. e. Haji Abdul Qadeer, Abdul Rashid Dostum) on the other side, who, however, were not always present in Afghanistan itself. The quality of life of the Afghan population was heavily dependent on the specific leader that was directly controlling the area in which they lived. Sharp contrasts existed regarding life and structures in different areas.

United Front (Northern Alliance)

Ahmad Shah Massoud

Throughout much of its operational history, the United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (Northern Alliance) was headed by Ahmad Shah Massoud, a Kabul University engineering student turned military leader who played a leading role in driving the Soviet army out of Afghanistan, earning him the nickname ''Lion of Panjshir''. His followers also call him ''Āmer Sāheb-e Shahīd'' (''Our Beloved Martyred Commander''). The Wall Street Journal at that time dedicated one of its covers to Massoud calling him "the Afghan who won the Cold War". Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet-backed government of Mohammad Najibullah, Massoud became the Defense Minister in 1992 under the government of Burhanuddin Rabbani. Following the rise of the Taliban in 1996, Massoud returned to the role of an armed opposition leader, serving as the military commander of the United Islamic Front.

Massoud was a deeply religious and spiritual person, who strongly opposed the interpretations of Islam followed by the Taliban or Al-Qaeda. A Sunni Muslim he also always carried a book of Sufi-mystic al-Ghazali with him.

The Taliban repeatedly offered Massoud a position of power to make him stop his resistance. Massoud declined for he did not fight for the sake of power. He explained in one interview:

Massoud was convinced that only a democratic system could ensure a lasting peace in Afghanistan. He wanted to convince the Taliban to join a political process leading towards democratic elections in a foreseeable future.

On September 9, 2001, two days before the September 11 attacks in the United States, Massoud was assassinated in Takhar Province of Afghanistan by suspected al-Qaeda agents. The funeral, although taking place in a rather rural area, was attended by hundreds of thousands of mourning people. The following year, he was named "National Hero" by the order of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The date of his death, September 9, is observed as a national holiday in Afghanistan, known as "Massoud Day". The year following his assassination, in 2002, Massoud was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize (which, incidentally, is never awarded posthumously).

One refugee, who cramped his family of 27 into an old jeep to flee from the Taliban to the area of Massoud, described Massoud's territory as "the last tolerant corner of Afghanistan". About his life in Massoud's area he stated: "I feel freedom here. I like ... you know, nobody bothers me. I do my job. I take care of my family. The way which I like I live in this area." Massoud had no influence on the lives of people living in the areas of Abdul Rashid Dostum who had joined the United Front to fight the Taliban.

In Massoud's area, women and girls did not have to wear the Afghan burqa. They were allowed to work and to go to school. In at least two known instances, Massoud personally intervened against cases of forced marriage. While it was Massoud's stated conviction that men and women are equal and should enjoy the same rights, he also had to deal with Afghan traditions, which he said would need a generation or more to overcome. In his opinion, that could be achieved only through education.

Massoud created democratic institutions that were structured into several committees: political, health, education and economic. Still, many people came to him personally when they had a dispute or problem and asked him to solve their problems.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees fled the Taliban to the areas of Massoud. In 2001, Massoud and photographer and former UN ambassador Reza Deghati

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