page_title: Battle of Kabul (1992–1996)
section_title: 1992
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Kabul (1992–1996) / Timeline / 1992
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Stellungen der verschiedenen Gruppierungen in und um Kabul im Jahr 1992
context_page_description: Battle of Kabul refers to a series of intermittent battles and sieges over the city of Kabul during the period of 1992–1996.
  Throughout the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979–1989, and subsequent civil war the city of Kabul saw little fighting. The collapse of Mohammad Najibullah's regime in April 1992 led to a peace treaty between the Afghan political parties. But soon after, the undisciplined commanders from both former mujahideen and Communist ranks started to vie for power, abetted by foreign powers, namely Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Uzbekistan, who began arming their Afghan proxies to fight for control and influence.
context_section_description: April–May
  The immediate objective of the interim government was to defeat the forces acting against the peace agreement (the Peshawar Accord), particularly Hekmatyar's Hezb-i Islami (backed by Pakistan) but later to include Mazari's Wahdat (backed by Iran) and Dostum's Junbish (backed by Uzbekistan).
  The forces of Jamiat and Shura-e Nazar entered the city, with agreement from Nabi Azimi and the commander of the Kabul garrison, General Abdul Wahid Baba Jan, that they would enter the city through Bagram, Panjshir, Salang and Kabul Airport. Many government forces, including generals, joined Jamiat, including the troops of General Baba Jan, who was at the time in charge of the garrison of Kabul. On April 27, all major parties had entered the city.
  Meanwhile, in Western Kabul, an area that would later see some of the fiercest fighting and greatest massacres of the war, Sayyaf’s mostly Pashtoon forces began to enter the city from Paghman and Maidan Shar.
  As mentioned above, Kabul came completely under the control of the interim government on April 30, 1992, and hopes were rising for a new era. But the situation was far from stabilized. The Hezb-i Islami had been driven out, but they were still within artillery range, and soon started firing tens of thousands of rockets into the city. Fighting between Hezb-i Islami and Junbish occurred in the Shashdarak area of Kabul. On May 5–6, 1992, Hizb-i Islami subjected Kabul to a heavy artillery bombardment, killing and injuring an unknown number of civilians. On May 23, 1992, despite a cease-fire, the forces of Junbish-i Milli bombarded Hizb-i Islami positions in Bini Hissar, Kalacha and Kart-iNau.
  Peace talks on May 25, 1992, originally agreed to give Hekmatyar the position of prime minister. However, this lasted less than a week after Hekmatyar had attempted to shoot down the plane of President Sibghatullah Mojaddedi. Furthermore, as part of the peace talks, Hekmatyar was demanding the departure of Dostum’s forces, which would have titled the scales.
  On May 30, 1992, during fighting between the forces of Junbish-i Milli and Hizb-i Islami in the southeast of Kabul, both sides used artillery and rockets killing and injuring an unknown number of civilians.  Shura-e Nazar forces were said to have been around the customs post on Jalalabad Road under the command of Gul Haidar and Baba Jalandar, who also were active in the areas such as the military university.
  June–July
  In June 1992, as scheduled, Burhanuddin Rabbani became President of Afghanistan.
  From the onset of the battle, Jamiat and Shura-e Nazar controlled the strategic high areas, and were thus able to develop a vantage point within the city from which opposition forces could be targeted. Hekmatyar continued to bombard Kabul with rockets. Although Hekmatyar insisted that only Islamic Jihad Council areas were targeted, the rockets mostly fell over the houses of innocent civilians of Kabul, a fact which has been well-documented. Artillery exchanges quickly broke out, escalating in late May-early June. Shura-i Nazar was able to immediately benefit from heavy weapons left by fleeing or defecting government forces and launched rockets on Hekmatyar's positions near the Jalalabad Customs Post, and in the districts around Hood Khil, Qala-e Zaman Khan and near Pul-i Charkhi prison. On June 10, it was reported that Dostum’s forces had also begun nightly bombardments of Hezb-i Islami positions.
  Particularly noticeable in this period was the escalation of the fight in West Kabul between the Shi’a Wahdat forces supported by Iran and those of the Wahhabist Ittihad militia supported by Saudi Arabia. Wahdat was somewhat nervous about the presence of Ittihad posts which were deployed in Hazara areas such as Rahman Baba High school. According to reports by Nabi Azimi, who at the time was a high ranking governor, the fighting began on May 31, 1992, when four members of Hezb-e Wahdat’s leadership were assassinated near the Kabul Silo. Those killed were Karimi, Sayyid Isma’il Hosseini, Chaman Ali Abuzar and Vaseegh, the first three being members of the
caption: Control in Kabul in April 1992
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