View source for History of Afghanistan (1992–present)

{{short description|Fall of Najibullah to present}}
{{refimprove|date=September 2014}}
{{History of Afghanistan}}
This article on the [[history of Afghanistan]] covers the period from the fall of the Najibullah government in 1992 to the end of the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|international military presence in Afghanistan]].

==Background==
{{Main|Afghan conflict|Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)}}

After the [[Soviet Union]] withdrew completely from [[Afghanistan]] in February 1989, fighting between the communist backed government and [[mujahideen]] continued. With material help from the Soviets, [[Mohammad Najibullah]]'s government survived, but after the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]] in 1991, it was overthrown on April 28, 1992.  The forces of [[Abdul Rashid Dostum]] surrendered to [[Ahmed Shah Massoud]] and Kabul was left without defenses and soon fell to Massoud. At the time, Doustum had 1,500 militia in [[Kabul]] airport.

==Islamic State of Afghanistan (1992-1996)==
{{Main articles|Islamic State of Afghanistan|Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)}}
Seeking to resolve these differences, the leaders of the [[Peshawar]]-based mujahideen groups established an interim [[Jamiat-e Islami]] in mid-April to assume power in Kabul. Moderate leader Prof. [[Sibghatullah Mojadeddi]] was to chair the council for 2 months, after which a 10-member leadership council composed of mujahideen leaders and presided over by the head of the Jamiat-i-Islami, Prof. [[Burhanuddin Rabbani]], was to be set up for 4 months. During this 6-month period, a [[Loya Jirga]], or grand council of Afghan elders and notables, would convene and designate an interim administration which would hold power up to a year, pending elections.

But in May 1992, Rabbani prematurely formed the leadership council, undermining Mojaddedi's fragile authority. On June 28, 1992, Mojaddedi surrendered power to the Leadership Council, which then elected Rabbani as President. Nonetheless, heavy fighting broke out in August 1992 in Kabul between forces loyal to President Rabbani and rival factions, particularly those who supported [[Gulbuddin Hekmatyar]]'s [[Hezb-i-Islami]] Gulbuddin. After Rabbani extended his tenure in December 1992, fighting in the capital flared up in January and February 1993. The [[Islamabad Accord]], signed in March 1993, which appointed Hekmatyar as Prime Minister, failed to have a lasting effect. A follow-up agreement, the [[Jalalabad Accord]], called for the militias to be disarmed but was never fully implemented. Through 1993, Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-Islami forces, allied with the Shi'a Hezb-i-Wahdat militia, clashed intermittently with Rabbani and Massoud's Jamiat forces. Cooperating with Jamiat were militants of Sayyaf's Ittehad-i-Islami and, periodically, troops loyal to ethnic [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]] strongman Abdul Rashid Dostam. On January 1, 1994, Dostam switched sides, precipitating large scale fighting in Kabul and in northern provinces, which caused thousands of civilian casualties in Kabul and elsewhere and created a new wave of displaced persons and [[Afghan refugees|refugees]]. The country sank even further into [[anomie]], forces loyal to Rabbani and Masud, both ethnic [[Tājik people|Tajiks]], controlled Kabul and much of the northeast, while local warlords exerted power over the rest of the country.

==Islamic Emirate and the Taliban (1996-2001)==
{{Main articles|Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)}}
In reaction to the warlordism prevalent in the country, and the lack of [[Pashtun people|Pashtun]] representation in the Kabul government, the [[Taliban]] movement arose. Many Taliban had been educated in [[madrasas]] in Pakistan and were largely from rural Pashtun backgrounds. This group was made up of mostly Pashtuns that dedicated itself to removing the warlords, providing law and order, and imposing strict Islamic [[Sharia]] law on the country. In 1994 it developed enough strength to capture the city of [[Kandahar]] from a local warlord and proceeded to expand its control throughout Afghanistan, controlling [[Herat]] in September 1995, then Kabul in September 1996, and declaring the [[Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001)|Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan]]. By this time Afghanistan was in its 17th year of war. It had the highest infant, child and maternal mortality rates in Asia. An estimated 10 million [[landmine]]s covered its terrain. Two million refugees were in camps.

Pakistan recognized the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan in 1997. By the end of 2000, the Taliban controlled about 95% of the country, limiting the opposition to a small corner in the northeast [[Panjshir Valley]]. Efforts by the [[UN]], prominent Afghans living outside the country, and other interested countries to bring about a peaceful solution to the continuing conflict came to nothing, largely because of intransigence on the part of the Taliban.

The Taliban sought to impose an extreme interpretation of [[Islam]]&mdash;based in part upon rural Pashtun tradition&mdash;upon the entire country and committed human rights violations, particularly directed against women and girls, in the process. Women were restricted from working outside the home or pursuing an education, were not to leave their homes without an accompanying male relative, and required to wear a traditional [[burqa]].The Taliban repressed minority populations, particularly the [[Shia]], as a retaliation in which approximately 2,500 Taliban soldiers were massacred by [[Abdul Malik Pahlawan|Abdul Malik]] and his Shia followers; attacked the [[Iran]]ian [[embassy]], killing eight diplomats and a television reporter, claiming them as spies.

In 2001, as part of a drive against relics of Afghanistan's pre-Islamic past, the Taliban destroyed two large statues of [[Gautama Buddha|Buddha]] outside of the city of [[Buddhas of Bamiyan|Bamiyan]] and announced destruction of all pre-Islamic statues in Afghanistan, including the remaining holdings of the [[Kabul Museum]].In addition to the continuing civil strife, the country suffered from widespread poverty, drought, a devastated infrastructure, and ubiquitous use of landmines.<ref>[http://www.merip.org/mero/mero092401.html Ruiz, Hiram and Emery, Margaret (September 24, 2001) "Afghanistan's Refugee Crisis" ''Middle East Report Online'']</ref> These conditions led to about a million Afghans facing starvation.<ref>[http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-10829318_ITM Norton, Andre (April 2001) "Afghanistan: The Crisis Deepens" ''The Middle East'' (No.311): pp. 14-15]</ref> The [[February 1998 Afghanistan earthquake|February]] and [[May 1998 Afghanistan earthquake|May 1998]] [[earthquake]]s killed thousands of Afghans in the northeast Badakhshan Province.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|last=Fathi|first=Nazila|last2=O'Connor|first2=Anahad|date=December 27, 2003|title=Powerful Earthquake in Iran Kills Thousands]|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9804EED6143EF934A15751C1A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all}}</ref>

==International Intervention and Interim Government (2001-2004)==
{{main|War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|United States invasion of Afghanistan|Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan}}

From the mid-1990s the Taliban provided [[sanctuary]] to [[Osama bin Laden]], a [[Saudi Arabia|Saudi]] national who had fought with them against the Soviets, and provided a base for his and other [[terrorism|terrorist]] organizations. The [[United Nations Security Council]] repeatedly sanctioned the Taliban for these activities. Bin Laden provided both financial and political support to the Taliban, as did Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, until American pressure forced them to drop their public support for the Taliban after September 11, 2001. Bin Laden and his al Qaeda group were charged with [[1998 United States embassy bombings|the bombing of the United States embassies]] in [[Nairobi]] and [[Dar Es Salaam]] in 1998, and in August 1998 the United States launched a [[cruise missile]] attack against bin Laden's terrorist camp in Afghanistan. Bin Laden and al Qaeda are believed responsible for the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] in the United States, among other crimes.

By September 2001 the remaining opposition to the Taliban had been confined to the [[Panjshir Valley]] and a small region in the northeast. The opposition by this time had formed the [[Afghan Northern Alliance]] but controlled less than 5% of the country. Nevertheless, they held onto Afghanistan's diplomatic representation in the United Nations as only three countries in the world continued to recognize the Taliban government. On September 9, agents working on behalf of the Taliban and believed to be associated with bin Laden's al Qaeda group assassinated Northern Alliance Defense Minister and chief military commander [[Ahmed Shah Massoud]], a hero of the Afghan resistance against the Soviets and the Taliban's principal military opponent. Following the Taliban's repeated refusal to expel bin Laden and his group and end its support for international terrorism, the United States and its partners launched an [[invasion of Afghanistan]] on October 7, 2001.

A period of bombing followed, which for about a month appeared to be having little effect. The US required the assistance of countries around Afghanistan to provide a route for the attack, but criticism increased as various [[mosque]]s, aid agencies, hospitals, and other civilian buildings were damaged by US bombs. However, the Northern Alliance, fighting against a Taliban weakened by US bombing and massive defections, captured [[Mazari Sharif]] on November 9. It rapidly gained control of most of northern Afghanistan and took control of Kabul on November 13 after the Taliban unexpectedly fled the city. The Taliban were restricted to a smaller and smaller region, with [[Kunduz]], the last Taliban-held city in the north, captured on November 26. Most of the Taliban fled to Pakistan. The war continued in the south of the country, where the Taliban retreated to Kandahar. After Kandahar fell in December, remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaeda continued to [[Taliban insurgency|mount resistance]].

Following the [[2002 loya jirga|Ioya Jirga]] in June 2002, a transitional government was put in place to govern Afghanistan, overseen by the [[United Nations]] and the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush]] administration of the United States. The assembly voted [[Hamid Karzai]] as [[President of Afghanistan|President]], a position he was reelected to in successor governments until 2014.<ref name="AA">{{cite web|title=Hamid Karzai|url=http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/kar0bio-1|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213002201/http://achievement.org/autodoc/page/kar0bio-1|archive-date=13 December 2010|access-date=3 October 2010|publisher=[[Academy of Achievement]]|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

== Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004-2021) ==
{{Main|Islamic Republic of Afghanistan}}
The [[2003 loya jirga|2003 Ioya Jirga]] saw an assembly vote and approve the foundations of a new republic and [[1964 Constitution of Afghanistan|constitution]] for Afghanistan. The Islamic Republic saw NATO troops being maintained in the country while fighting the [[Taliban insurgency]].<ref name="NYTNov2004">{{cite news|last=Gall|first=Carlotta|date=13 November 2004|title=Asia: Afghanistan: Taliban Leader Vows Return|work=The New York Times|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F05E5DB173FF930A25752C1A9629C8B63|access-date=8 September 2017}}</ref> The first election for president was held in [[2004 Afghan presidential election|2004]], Hamid Karzai was declared the winner and became President of the Islamic Republic. Karzai won reelection in [[2009 Afghan presidential election|2009]] and left office in 2014.<ref>{{cite news|date=2 November 2009|title=Karzai declared elected president|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8337832.stm|url-status=live|access-date=31 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724141100/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8337832.stm|archive-date=24 July 2020}}</ref> He was succeeded by [[Ashraf Ghani]] who won the [[2014 Afghan presidential election|2014 presidential election]] and reelected in [[2019 Afghan presidential election|2019]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Akhgar|first1=Tameem|last2=Gannon|first2=Kathy|date=28 September 2019|title=Top 5 Afghan presidential candidates in Saturday's election|url=https://apnews.com/28bd4a495dca4e508c2eafc3ce62deb3|work=AP News}}</ref>

== Reinstatement of the Islamic Emirate (2021-present) ==
{{Main|2021 Taliban offensive}}

NATO troops began to slowly withdraw international troops from Afghanistan as the war continued. Concurrently in 2021, the Taliban insurgency quickly began to see success, [[Fall of Kabul (2021)|capturing]] 33 of the 34 provincial capitals of Afghanistan in the span of three months. On August 15, 2021, the Taliban captured Kabul with President Ghani fleeing the country. Anti Taliban-forces along with the remnants of the Islamic Republic formed the [[National Resistance Front of Afghanistan]], launching an [[Panjshir conflict|insurgency]] against the Taliban from the [[Panjshir Valley]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Filseth|first=Trevor|date=23 August 2021|title=The War in Afghanistan Isn’t Quite Over Yet|publisher=National Interest|url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/war-afghanistan-isn%E2%80%99t%C2%A0quite%C2%A0over-yet%C2%A0-191997|accessdate=29 August 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-08-23|title=Anti-Taliban resistance group says it has thousands of fighters|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58239156|access-date=2021-08-29}}</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:History of Afghanistan (1992–present)| ]]