‘between the dragon and his wrath’, 1994–2017into the ditches. The population, regardless of whether they were Shi‘a,
Isma‘ili or Sunni, were then driven into the mosques to pray. But when
the Taliban tried to disarm Hizb-i Wahdat Hazaras, they fought back and
were joined by Malik and Dostam’s militia. Trapped in the narrow alleys
in an unfamiliar city, the Taliban stood no chance. Hundreds of Talibs
lay dead by the time the shooting stopped, while those who survived the
slaughter either surrendered or were taken prisoner. Malik then shipped
most of the prisoners out to the remote Dasht-i Laili, where he executed
them in cold blood and threw the bodies into a mass grave. In Mazar-i
Sharif itself, Malik’s men celebrated their victory by ransacking un and
ngo offices and the houses of foreign aid workers. The Taliban occupation
of Mazar-i Sharif had lasted just three days.
Malik quickly regained control of most of the north while Mas‘ud
blew up the entrance to the Salang Tunnel, cutting off the Taliban’s line of
retreat. The surviving Taliban fled instead to Qunduz, where they managed
to beat off every attempt to dislodge them. Despite the setback, the Taliban
had secured a foothold beyond the Hindu Kush. Even so, the defeat had
cost the movement dear. Several thousand men had been killed, including
several key commanders, and hundreds more were captured or executed.
The Taliban had also abandoned hundreds of vehicles and a huge amount
of military equipment. The human losses were quickly replaced since, at
the urging of Sami al-Haq, madrasas in Pakistan sent thousands of new
child soldiers across the frontier, while the isi and the Saudi Arabian intel-
ligence service replaced the vehicles and munitions. The Taliban defeat was
also a defeat for Pakistan’s military strategy in Afghanistan and a political
embarrassment. Following the fall of Mazar-i Sharif, Pakistan, the United
Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia had accorded diplomatic recognition to
the Taliban, though no other nation followed suit. In the clean-up after
the massacre, several hundred of the dead and prisoners were found to
have Pakistani passports and, according to well-informed local sources, a
number had isi and Pakistani military identity cards.
Within a matter of months the Taliban had rearmed and been re -
inforced. In August they were strong enough to launch a second attack
on Maimana from Herat, while in the east Taliban militia in Qunduz,
supported by the former Hizb-i Islami commander in Baghlan, overran
Pul-i Khumri and Tashqurghan. Malik retreated and, with the Taliban
closing in on Mazar-i Sharif, public demonstrations demanded the return
of Dostam, and when he arrived in mid-September he was greeted by
a hero’s welcome. Most of Malik’s militia defected and few weeks later
Dostam defeated the Taliban as they tried to enter the city. Dostam then