Fighting among rival factions devastates Kabul

Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Soviet Union and the United States signed agreements in Geneva. They established a framework for Soviet withdrawal and non-interference, but the Afghan mujahideen and...

The final Soviet troops crossed out of Afghanistan under the Geneva timetable. The withdrawal ended the direct Soviet military occupation, but did not end the Afghan war: the Kabul government,...

By December 1990 UNHCR estimated more than 6.3 million Afghan refugees in neighboring states: about 3.3 million in Pakistan and 3 million in Iran. The figure shows how war and foreign intervention...

After the Soviet Union dissolved and external support to Kabul contracted, President Najibullah agreed to step aside under a UN-backed transition plan. The plan collapsed amid armed factional...

Mujahideen factions entered Kabul after the Najibullah government fell. Rival armed groups soon fought over the state and the capital. The label “mujahideen” covered diverse organizations; their...

The Taliban seized Kabul and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Their rule brought severe restrictions, especially on women and girls, and armed conflict continued with opponents in the...

After capturing Mazar-i-Sharif, Taliban forces carried out indiscriminate shootings, executions, mass detention, abductions and rape, HRW reported. Death estimates vary; Hazara residents and other...

The United States launched cruise-missile strikes on alleged al-Qaeda facilities in Afghanistan after the embassy bombings in East Africa. The strikes occurred without Afghan consent and did not...

Taliban forces retook Yakaolang in Bamiyan. Human Rights Watch later documented witness accounts that civilians, including Hazara men and local aid workers, were rounded up and executed.

Ahmad Shah Massoud, a leading commander of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance, died after a suicide attack by assassins posing as journalists. His death weakened a major Afghan political-military...