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A chronology of 25 years of Afghanistan's history
Fri 17 Apr 98 - 01:47 GMT
KABUL, April 17 (AFP) - Following is the list of important events in Afghanistan's recent history:
1973: Sardar Daud topples King Zaher Shah who goes into exile in Rome.
1978: Daud is overthrown in Moscow-backed coup by Nur Muhammad Taraki
1979: Soviet troops invade Afghanistan in December and Babrak Karmal takes office
1980: Moslem tribes start a holy war against the Soviet installed regime
1980-89: Fighting between mujahedeen and Soviet and Afghan forces erupts across Afghanistan leaving an estimated
1.5 million dead and another five million people refugees in Iran and Pakistan
1986: Karmal is removed amid a shift in Soviet policy and Afghan secret police chief Najibullah is made president
1989: Some 115,000 Soviet troops complete their withdrawal from Afghanistan after losing an estimated 15,000
dead in 10 years
1989-92: Increasing armed conflict between government forces and mujahedeen groups
1990: Army chief general Shahnawaz Tanai stages an abortive coup against Najibullah. Kabul suffers widespread
destruction
1992: In April, Najibullah agrees to abdicate under a UN-brokered peace plan and moderate mujahedeen leader
Sibghatullah Mojaddedi takes over as interim president
1992: In June, Burhanuddin Rabbani assumes office
1992: In December, Rabbani declared president and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar prime minister under a multi-party
accord. Hekmatyar never came to Kabul because of rivalry with ex-defence minister Ahmad Shah Masood
1994: Factional fighting continues between Hekmatyar and Masood forces and General Abdul Rashid Dostam stages
a coup attempt. The mujahedeen are split
1994: Taliban emerge in November dubbing warring mujahedeen leaders enemies of the Afghan people and vowing
to enforce Islamic law
1995: Effort by UN to set up a broad-based interim government fail
1995: Taliban capture Hekmatyar's key stronghold of Charasyab, seize western Herat province on the Iranian border
and several other western provinces
1996:
June 26: Hekmatyar signs peace deal with Rabbani and takes oath as prime minister
Sept 27: Taliban capture Kabul and impose a harsh Islamic system
September end: The Taliban enter the Pajshir valley northeast of Kabul, the stronghold of Tajik commander Ahmed
Shah Masood
Oct 10: Masood's faction as well as those of ethnic Uzbek general Abdul Rashid Dostam and the pro-Iranian Shiite
Hezb-i-Wahdat sign accord
Oct 12-19: Masood's forces retake the strategic town of Jabul Siraj and Charikar, north of Kabul, from the Taliban.
Nov 29: Taliban push back ex-goverment troops
1997
Jan 16: Taliban retake Charikar and Bagram
Jan 23: Taliban gain Jabul Siraj and Gulbahar, at the mouth of Panjshir
May 19: A major Dostam ally, General Abdul Malik, joined by senior commanders, revolts
May 24: Dostam flees as Taliban tanks and Trucks enter his main centre in Mazar-i-Sharif
May 28: Taliban driven from Mazar-i-Sharif as Malik turns against them and is backed by Hezb-i-Wahdat
May 30: Hezb-i-Wahdat take Ghorband valley while Masood forces grab Jabul Siraj
July 20: Anti-Taliban forces led by Masood retake areas north of Kabul
July 24: Masood-led forces within 20 kilometres (12 miles) of Kabul
July 29: Taliban halt opposition advances north of Kabul
Aug 21: Taliban militia lose ground north of Kabul. Street battles erupt in Mazar-i-Sharif between troops loyal to
Malik and those of Dostam
Sept 8: Taliban supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar claims Mazar-i-Sharif besieged
Sept 12: Dostam returns to his northern base
Sept 12: Anti-Taliban fighters regain lost ground and restore order in Mazar
Oct 4: Opposition troops flush out Taliban from Mazar airport
1998
Feb 4: Some 4,500 people killed as Northern Afghanistan hit by powerful earthquake
April 8: Washington announces Ambassador to UN, Bill Richardson to visit Afghanistan on April 17 in the first visit
by a cabinet-level US official in over 20 years.