suburb in which it is located was controlled by Hezb-e Wahdat
(Dupree, 1996: 45) – although the skill of the looters in choosing
what to take suggested the involvement of agents for dealers in
stolen artworks, rather than thieving Mujahideen. Finally, politi-
cally motivated killings took place, notably the 29 July 1994
murder of the BBC correspondent Mir Wais Jalil, whose fearless
reporting had outraged the Hezb-e Islami (Dorronsoro, 1994;
Amnesty International, 1995: 41).
A particularly difficult issue to pin down relates to rape and sex-
ual assault. There is abundant and significant anecdotal evidence of
rape of women by armed males (Amnesty International, 1995:
62–5), and given the stigma which can so unjustly be attached to
the victim, it would be exceedingly surprising if there were not
many cases that went unreported. However, determining the actual
scale of such violations is wellnigh impossible, both because
rumour undoubtedly magnified the fears which women felt, and
because the mere accusation that members of particular groups
sanctioned the ‘dishonouring’ of women was a lethal charge to
level in Afghan society, and therefore an attractive one to a parti-
san seeking to discredit his opponents.
The peace of March–October 1995
Some defenders of the Taliban were to laud the peace which
they allegedly brought to Kabul when they finally occupied it in
September 1996 (Fergusson, 1997). Given that the Taliban had
been rocketing Kabul in a merciless fashion for months before
they occupied the city, this was akin to arguing that Hitler
brought peace to Warsaw when his forces overran it in late
September 1939. However, there was a period of remarkable
peace in Kabul: from March–October 1995. It is so frequently
overlooked in histories of Afghanistan that it at least deserves
mention. During this period, the city was completely free of
rocket attacks, and movement around the city was easier than it
had been for years. A UN official whom I interviewed in Kabul
in May 1995 described the situation only two months earlier as
206 The Afghanistan Wars