Chapter 2 continues…

Najibullah was finally forced to step down in April 1992 after Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum defected to the mujahideen. While Rabbani and Massoud were able to immediately move into Kabul, their control of the city was never complete as Hekmatyar was able to capture the southern districts of Kabul, and the Hazara-dominated Hizb-e-Wahdat was able to take over the western districts. A compromise was needed among the various warring factions in order to maintain a semblance of peace in the country.

Pakistan, which had failed to bring down the Najibullah government, now attempted to bring together the ‘Peshawar Seven’ into a coalition government in Kabul. In fact, Pakistan had been attempting to broker some sort of an agreement between the seven political parties in anticipation of Najibullah stepping down soon, but were unsuccessful.

The first successful attempt was the Peshawar Accord brokered by Nawaz Sharif in April 1992 soon after Najibullah had stepped down. This power-sharing deal envisaged a three-phase, peaceful transition of power over two years. Mujaddidi was meant to govern as president for two months, followed by Rabbani for a four-month term. Finally, Rabbani was meant to be succeeded by a council that would serve as the interim government for 18 months before nationwide elections could be held.

The deal ultimately failed as a result of sabotage by Afghan warlords and the ISI, who played a double game. While one section of the ISI had helped Sharif broker the Peshawar Accords, another had subsequently tried to stage a coup by smuggling hundreds of fighters loyal to Hekmatyar into Kabul. Hekmatyar, whose party had been offered the position of Prime Minister as per the terms of the Accords, refused to accept it as he believed that the position of the Prime Minister should not be subordinate to that of the President. Although the plot failed, it sparked another round of conflict in Afghanistan among the mujahideen themselves.

To be continued…