[nukkad] The Afghan Chronology

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Source: Griffin, Michael; Reaping the Whirlwind: The Taliban Movement in 
Afghanistan; Pluto Press; London; 2001

July 17, 1973 - King Zahir Shah is overthrown by his cousin, former Prime 
Minister Mohammad Daoud, with Soviet backing. Afghanistan is proclaimed a 
republic.

April 27, 1978 - President Daoud is killed in a Marxist coup by the People's 
Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Attempts by the new president, Noor 
Mohammad Taraki, to impose land reform and compulsory education for women 
spark a nationwide jihad.

September 1979 - President Taraki is murdered by his deputy, Hafizullah 
Amin. Amin is executed is executed three months later.

December 24, 1979 - Red Army units seize Kabul airport as four Soviet 
motorised divisions roll across the northern border. Babrak Karmal, exiled 
PDPA leader in Moscow, returns as president.

December 24, 1979-February 1989 - The Soviet-Afghan War. Seven mujahideen 
parties, based in Peshawar, are selected by Pakistan's President Zia-ul-Haq 
to receive the military supplies pouring in from western countries and the 
Islamic world.

February-April 1985 - Mikhail Gorbachev assumes power in Moscow. Occupation 
forces rise to 140,000 men but entire regions, such as the Hazarajat and 
Kunar valley, are virtual no-go areas to Soviet and government troops. The 
US supplies the mujahideen with Stinger missiles, tipping the balance of 
power.

May 4, 1986 - At Moscow's behest, Maj Gen Mohammad Najibullah replaces 
Karmal as president. As Soviet casualties mount, Gorbachev describes the 
Afghan imbroglio as "a bleeding wound", but continues to press for a 
military solution.

February 1988 - Gorbachev announces a 10-month phased withdrawal of Soviet 
troops, beginning mid-May. The Geneva Accords, signed on April 14, allow 
both superpowers to continue to supply arms to the combatants.

February 14, 1989 - In Peshawar, the "Seven-Party Alliance of Afghan 
Mujahideen" announces the establishment of an "Afghan Interim Government", 
with Sibghatullah Mujadeddi as president, Shia resistance groups and many 
key field commanders are excluded.

March-September 1989 - Battle of Jalalabad. Mujahideen forces fail to 
capture key eastern city after a siege claming 10,000 lives.

August 29, 1989 - Foreign Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, head of the radical 
Hizb-I Islami, breaks with the AIG.

February 6-9, 1990 - The US and the Soviet Union agree that President 
Najibullah will remain in power until internationally-supervised elections 
can be held.

May 29, 1990 - Najibullah announces the introduction of a multiparty system.

July 25, 1990 - Refugees begin to return home under the UN's Voluntary 
Repatriation Scheme.

February-March 1991 - US discontinues military aid to the AIG and announces 
it cannot guarantee humanitarian assistance for 1992.

May 21, 1991 - UN Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar calls for an end to 
arms supplies to all sides, a cessation of hostilities and elections for a 
broadly-based democratic government. The AIG rejects any compromise with the 
Najibullah government.

April 1992 - As mujahideen forces converge on Kabul, Najibullah is removed 
by military officers and takes refuge in a UN compound. Mujahedin leaders 
sign the Peshawar Accord, agreeing to a power-sharing period of transitional 
rule leading to elections. Hekmatyar is not a signatory.

June 24, 1992 - Prof Burhanuddin Rabbani is declared transitional president 
of the "Islamic State of Afghanistan" for six months. Hekmatyar's forces 
fire missiles and rockets into Kabul.

July-August 1992 - Fighting erupts between rival mujahedin factions in 
Kabul. The UN evacuates staff from the city and relocates its offices to 
Islamabad.

December 30, 1992 - In defiance of the Peshawar Accord, Rabbani is confirmed 
as president for a further two years by a "Council of Wise Men". Five of the 
nine key party leaders boycott the council.

January 19, 1993 - Government launches an offensive against Hekmatyar, who 
responds with a month-long rocket bombardment of the capital. Thousands of 
civilians perish.

February 1993 - Four UN staff are assassinated in Nangarhar Province on the 
road of the Khyber Pass.

March 7, 1993 - Under the Islamabad Accord, Rabbani's term is reduced to 18 
months and Hekmatyar is brought in as prime minister. Fighting resumes two 
days later over the unresolved status of both Defence Minister Ahmad Shah 
Massoud and General Dostum, the former communist who controls northern 
Afghanistan.

June 16, 1993 - Hekmatyar is sworn in as prime minister, Massoud resigns

January 1, 1994 - The Battle for Kabul intensifies as General Dostum forms 
an alliance with Hekmatyar. Fighting continues throughout the year but no 
clear winner emerges. A blockade halts the delivery of relief food and 
medicine.

February 14, 1994 - Ambassador Mahmoud Mestiri is named head of a Special UN 
Mission with a mandate to restart the peace process. He tables proposals for 
a ceasefire, the creation of a neutral security force and the summoning of a 
Loya jirga, or representative council, to oversee the formation of a 
transitional government.

October 1994 - Kandahar falls to an obscure militia of religious students, 
or taliban, led by Mullah Mohammad Omar, who calls for 4,000 volunteers from 
Pakistan.

November 11, 1994 - The UN appeals for $106.4 million to meet the 
humanitarian requirements of Afghanistan for the next twelve months. 
Fighting during the year has killed 7,000, injured around 100,000 and made 
more than half a million people homeless, according to the International 
Committee of the Red Cross.

December 24, 1994 - The fifteenth anniversary of the Soviet invasion passes 
unremarked.

February 1995 - Taliban force Hekmatyar to abandon his rocket bases at 
Charasyab and Maidanshahr, ending the first siege of Kabul.

March 20, 1995 - Following the killing of Abdul-Ali Mazari, leader of the 
Shia Hizb-I Wahdat, Taliban forces are expelled from Kabul by government 
forces.

September 5, 1995 - After fierce fighting in western Afghanistan, Heart 
falls to the Taliban. Local warlord Ismail Khan flees with 8,000 followers 
to Iran.

September 6, 1995 - Pakistan's embassy in Kabul is set ablaze by rioting 
Afghans.

October 1995 - Second siege begins as the Taliban rocket the capital and 
tighten the blockade.

October 4, 1995 - At the UN General Assembly in New York, Deputy Foreign 
Minister Abdul Rahim Ghafoorzai accuses Pakistan of orchestrating and 
supplying the Taliban movement.

November 10, 1995 - UNICEF suspends assistance to education in 
Taliban-controlled regions.

April 3, 1996 - 1,000 Muslim clergymen elect Mullah Mohammad Omar as Amir 
ul-Momineen, or Leader of the Faithful.

June 26, 1996 - After a peace deal between Rabbani and Hekmatyar, the latter 
re-assumes his title as prime minister. Islamic dress code is enforced for 
women in Kabul.

September 5, 1996 - Taliban launch offensive in eastern Afghanistan, 
capturing Jalalabad.

September 26, 1996 - Massoud abandons Kabul.

September 27, 1996 - Taliban take control of Kabul, hang Najibullah and 
declare Afghanistan a "completely Islamic State".

October 7, 1996 - Rabbani, Dostum and Karim Khalili, leader of Hizb-I 
Wahdat, announce formation of an anti-Taliban alliance called the Council 
for the Defence of Afghanistan.

May 13, 1997 - Afghan opposition forms new government under Rabbani in 
Mazar-I Sharif.

May 19, 1997 - General Abdul Malik, governor of Faryab, mutinies and allies 
with the Taliban. Dostum flees to Turkey.

May 24, 1997 - Taliban forces enter Mazar-I-Sharif.

May 25, 1997 - Pakistan recognises the Taliban government, followed by Saudi 
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

May 28, 1997 - General Malik, in alliance with Hizb-i wahdat, turns on 
Taliban. Hundreds killed and 2,000 captured as fierce fighting drives them 
from the city.

June 10, 1997 - Mullah Mohammad Omar makes his first public visit to Kabul 
to rally morale.

August 1997 - Taliban blockade the Hazarajat.

September 1997 - Taliban arrest EU Commissioner Emma Bonino in Kabul.

October 1997 - UNOCAL announces trans-Afghanistan pipeline consortium.

November 1997 - General Malik and his brothers flee into exile.

November 18, 1997 - US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright condemns 
Taliban treatment of women.

February 23, 1998 - Osama bin-Ladin calls on Muslims to 'kill the Americans 
and their allies - civilian and military'.

March 25, 1998 - UN withdraws staff from Kandahar

April 17, 1998 - US ambassador to UN Bill Richardson holds peace talks with 
the Taliban.

May 3, 1998 - Peace talks collapse.

July 13, 1998 - Two UN staff murdered in Jalalabad.

July 21, 1998 - Foreign NGOs leave Kabul.

August 7, 1998 - US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania are attacked with 
grievous loss of life.

August 8, 1998 - 4-5,000 people, including nine Iranian diplomats, are 
killed as Mazar-i Sharif falls to the Taliban.

August 20, 1998 - US cruise missiles attack four training campus near Khost.

August 21, 1998 - After UN observer is murdered in Kabul, the UN and the 
International Committee of the Red Cross withdraw all foreign staff.

September 1998 - Saudi Arabia withdraws diplomats; Taliban capture Bamiyan.

October 21, 1998 - UN defers decision on recognition.

November 8, 1998 - US posts $5 million reward for information leading to the 
capture of bin-Ladin: Taliban respond with offer to try bin-Laden in 
Afghanistan, finding him "innocent" of wrongdoing by the end of the month.

December 6, 1998 - UNOCAL announces its withdrawal from the pipeline 
consortium.

February 12, 1999 - Taliban announce the "disappearance" of bin-Laden. UN 
staff return to Kabul.

April 21, 1999 - Taliban recapture Bamiyan.

May 1999 - Pakistan-backed fighters transgress the "Line of Control" in 
Kashmir, provoking an international incident with India.

July 4, 1999 - bin-Ladin discovered near Jalalabad.

July 4, 1999 - Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan signs Washington 
Agreement.

July 6, 1999 - US imposes trade sanctions on Afghanistan.

July 28, 1999 - Taliban launch three-pronged offensive against Massoud, 
capturing Bagram air base.

August 4, 1999 - Ethnic cleansing of Shomali Plain; Massoud launches 
successful counter-offensive.

August 24, 1999 - Attempted assassination of Mullah Mohammad Omar.

September 20, 1999- US warns Pakistan's military command against a coup 
de'etat.

October 7, 1999 - ISI chief Lt-Gen. Khawaja Ziauddin flies to Kandahar to 
denounce the presence of "terrorist training camps" on Afghan soil.

October 12, 1999 - Nawaz Sharif dismisses army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf, 
replacing him with Ziauddin.

October 12, 1999 - Troops loyal to Gen Musharraf seize TV centre and arrest 
Sharif.

October 13, 1999 - Gen Musharraf pronounces himself "Chief Executive" in an 
early morning broadcast.

December 15, 1999 - UN imposes sanctions on Afghanistan.

December 24, 1999 - 20th anniversary of the Soviet invasion.

February 2000 - Hijacking of Ariana Airways flight to Stansted, London.

March 2000 - Ismail Khan, former ruler of Heart, escapes from Kandahar after 
three years in chains.

March 26, 2000 - President Bill Clinton makes a five-hour stopover in 
Islamabad to urge a swift return to democracy.

July 20, 2000 - US Assistant Secretary Karl Inderfurth tells Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee the Taliban will be forced out of Kabul by November.

September 5, 2000 - After 33 days fighting, Massoud's northern capital, 
Talaqan, falls to a combined Taliban/Pakistani/Arab force. Thousands of 
refugees head for the Tajik and Pakistani borders.

October 12, 2000 - Washington warns it will attack Afghanistan if bin-Laden 
is found responsible for the bomb attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, which 
kills 17 sailors.

November 2000 - UN leaves the Afghanistan seat with President Rabbani. 
Taliban and Opposition agree to peace talks.

December 7, 2000 - US and Russia ask the UN Security Council to strengthen 
sanctions.

December10-19, 2000 - UN and NGO foreign staff withdraw amid fear of 
reprisals.

December 19, 2000 - UN tightens sanctions, imposing an arms embargo, closing 
Taliban offices abroad and forbidding Taliban officials to leave 
Afghanistan.

January 3, 2001 - The trial, in absentia, of Osama bin Laden, and scores of 
others allegedly implicated in the East African embassy bombings commences 
in a Manhattan court.




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