the political abyss into which he had been thrust by the Taliban in
February 1995. It also embarrassed the Taliban’s Pakistani support-
ers. But for ordinary Afghans it had very little appeal: the people
of Kabul had gone through hell in 1993 and 1994 to avoidhaving
Hekmatyar controlling their lives, and on arriving in Kabul that
was what he set out to do, issuing Taliban-like decrees on
women’s dress which were at odds with the relatively relaxed
atmosphere that Massoud had cultivated. The dangers which the
Mahipar agreement held for Rabbani became clear within four
months. Not only did the return of Hekmatyar tarnish the legitima-
cy of the Rabbani government within Kabul, but more importantly,
it prompted all-out Pakistani support for the Taliban, which proved
crucial in their ability to overwhelm Kabul in September 1996. It
also led Rabbani to pressure Massoud into the militarily dangerous
step of expanding his defensive lines to cover Hekmatyar’s bases
(Davis, 1998: 65–6). When the final Taliban attack came,
Massoud’s forces were simply spread too thinly.
The international context
What ultimately proved fatal to Rabbani’s government was the
strength of its opponent, both in terms of military capability and
access to resources. As Davis has written, the Taliban ‘were pre-
eminently a military organisation rather than a political movement’
(Davis, 1998: 69). There is no doubt that Pakistan played a pivotal
role in making them a military instrument (Saikal, 1998b). This
was in the context of the failure of its client Hekmatyar to deliver
the outcomes which the ISI had desired, and the bitter resentment
towards Pakistan which had built up amongst the victims of
Pakistan’s strategy, most notably displayed in an attack on
Pakistan’s Embassy in Kabul on 6 September 1995 following the
use of force by Pakistan at the Afghan Embassy in Islamabad to
end a still-mysterious hostage crisis. With arms supplied by
Pakistan, and money from Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban were
well positioned to capitalise on disillusionment with Rabbani by
making a new thrust towards Kabul.
216 The Afghanistan Wars