Takhar Province
Massoud took advantage of the truce to extend his influence over areas that had until then been held by hostile factions loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-i-islami party, like in Andarab District. More peacefully, he took control of the Khost-Fereng sector, and some areas in southern Takhar Province, while establishing contacts with other guerrilla groups in Baghlan Province, and persuading them to adopt his military organisation. He also ordered the strengthening of defenses in five subsidiary valleys as well as in the Panjshir, permitting a defense in depth, and withdrew his headquarters to Shira Mandara, in Takhar province, in anticipation of a renewed assault.