Chapter 2 continues…

Nawaz Sharif made another attempt at brokering peace among the mujahideen by persuading them to come together at the negotiating table in March 1993. This round of discussions led to the Islamabad Accord, another power-sharing deal, which saw Rabbani continuing as President and Hekmatyar as Prime Minister. The deal, which was to last for 18 months, also called for a ceasefire, a clear demarcation of powers between the President and the Prime Minister, and for elections to be held by July 1994. However, Hekmatyar’s refusal to enter Kabul and his objection to Massoud keeping the portfolio of the Ministry of Defence ultimately led to the failure of this accord as well.

Despite the support provided by Pakistan to Rabbani, he and Massoud began to distance themselves from Islamabad. Relations between Massoud and the ISI had never been good as both viewed each other with a high degree of mistrust. Pakistan always had doubts about Massoud’s commitment towards fighting the Soviet Union and his rivalry with Hekmatyar had also coloured its opinion about him. Massoud, in turn, believed that Hekmatyar had attempted a number of assassination attempts against him in collusion with the ISI.

There were signs of the Rabbani-Massoud administration attempting to adopt an independent and non-aligned foreign policy that was not conducive to Pakistan’s interests. A perceived tilt towards India and Iran, along with the occasional closure of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border at Torkham, the alleged harassment of Pakistani diplomats in Kabul and the perceived hostile attitude towards Pakistan in general, had led to a realisation among the Pakistani political and military elite that such an administration would never accept Pakistani supremacy.

The relations between Pakistan and the Rabbani-Massoud administration at Kabul had also become strained on account of Pakistan’s continued support for Hekmatyar and its attempts to dislodge their government from Kabul. Hekmatyar, despite being the Prime Minister remained outside Kabul, and in January 1994, in alliance with Dostum and Mujaddidi unleashed the most ferocious artillery and rocket attacks on Kabul that the city had ever witnessed.

To be continued…