afghanistanby the political revolution in Moscow that led to Boris Yeltsin displacing
Gorbachev. President Yeltsin had no interest in Afghanistan, and since the
Soviet economy was in recession, he cut aid to the Afghan government
and passed the buck to the newly independent states of Uzbekistan and
Turkmenistan. They continued to supply President Najib Allah with fuel,
military equipment and cash, but to a far lesser degree than Moscow had
been providing. Within a matter of months, basic supplies were running
out and the population of Kabul was facing starvation.
In March 1992 President Najib Allah finally agreed to a un-brokered
deal under the terms of which he would resign, leave the country and
surrender power to the Afghan Interim Government. However, before the
handover could take place, the situation in northern Afghanistan changed
the whole political scene. In an attempt to curb Dostam’s influence,
President Najib Allah replaced General ‘Abd al-Mo’min, the Tajik military
commander of Mazar-i Sharif, with General Rasul, a Pushtun hard man
who had been in charge of Kabul’s notorious Pul-i Charkhi prison. When
‘Abd al-Mo’min refused to step down, Dostam declared his support for
him and, on the very day President Najib Allah announced his resignation,
Dostam’s Uzbek militia occupied Mazar-i Sharif, which they proceeded to
loot. Dostam then forged an alliance with Ahmad Shah Mas‘ud, Sayyid
Mansur, head of the Isma‘ilis of Pul-i Khumri, Hizb-i Wahdat and Isma‘il
Khan of Jami‘at-i Islami, an alliance that went under the name of Junbesh-i
Milli-i Afghanistan, the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan.
The fall of President Najib Allah KhanThe fall of Mazar-i Sharif meant President Najib Allah not only had lost
control of the northern provinces, but the Afghan army was outnumbered
and outgunned by Junbesh forces, for Dostam now had tanks, artillery
and several military planes and helicopters under his command. The vital
supply route from Uzbekistan to Kabul was cut, and the air force had to
be grounded due to lack of aviation fuel. In April, when President Najib
Allah tried to leave the country in accordance with the un agreement,
Dostam’s Parchami allies, who controlled the Kabul airport, turned him
back, so Najib Allah sought sanctuary in the offices of the un Development
Programme. Meanwhile the Parchami garrison at Bagram handed control
of the airbase to Ahmad Shah Mas‘ud.
Kabul was now at the mercy of Mas‘ud and Dostam and the pros-
pect of an Uzbek-Panjshiri takeover caused consternation among Khalqis,
the Pushtun mujahidin and Pakistan’s isi. In an attempt to forestall this