Editing Mohammad Najibullah (section)

===After the Soviets===
{{further|Afghan Civil War (1989–92)}}
With the Soviets' withdrawal in 1989, the Afghan army was left on its own to battle the insurgents. The most effective, and largest, assaults on the mujahideen were undertaken during the 1985–86 period. These offensives had forced the mujahideen on the defensive near [[Herat]] and Kandahar.<ref>{{cite book | author = Amtstutz, J. Bruce | title = Afghanistan: Past and Present | publisher = DIANE Publishing | year = 1994 | isbn = 0-7881-1111-6 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=a0Mp1AHpp0gC&pg=PA151 151] }}</ref> The Soviets ensued a bomb and negotiate during 1986, and a major offensive that year included 10,000 Soviet troops and 8,000 Afghan troops.<ref>{{cite book | author = Hilali, A. Z. | title = US–Pakistan relationship: Soviet invasion of Afghanistan | publisher = [[Ashgate Publishing]] | year = 2005 | isbn = 978-0-7546-4220-6 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=nhqRa0glD9oC&pg=PA86 86] }}</ref>

The Pakistani people and establishment continued to support the Afghan mujahideen even if it was in contravention of the Geneva Accords. At the beginning, most observers expected the Najibullah government to collapse immediately, and to be replaced with an Islamic fundamentalist government. The [[Central Intelligence Agency]] stated in a report that the new government would be ambivalent, or even hostile towards the United States.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}} Almost immediately after the Soviet withdrawal, the [[Civil war in Afghanistan (1989–92)#Battle of Jalalabad|Battle of Jalalabad]] broke out between Afghan government forces and the mujahideen, in cooperation with Pakistan's [[Inter-Service Intelligence]] (ISI). The offensive against the city began when the mujahideen bribed several government military officers, from there, they tried to take the airport, but were repulsed with heavy casualties. The willingness of the common Afghan government soldier to fight increased when the mujahideen began to execute people during the battle. [[Hamid Gul]], leader of the ISI, hoped that the battle would topple Najibullah's government and create a mujahideen government seated in Jalalabad.<ref name="indianexpress.com">{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/najibullah-grave-death-afghanistan-hamdullah-mohib-6433076/|title=Explained: Why a top Afghan official visited the grave of ex-President Najibullah|date=30 May 2020}}</ref> During the battle, Najibullah called for Soviet assistance. Gorbachev called an emergency session of the Politburo to discuss his proposal, but Najibullah's request was rejected. Other attacks against the city failed, and by April the government forces were on the offensive.<ref name="NotMN"/> During the battle over four hundred [[Scud missile]]s were shot, which were fired by a Soviet crew, which had stayed behind, in joint cooperation with the Afghan [[99th Missile Brigade]].<ref>{{cite book | author = [[Rodric Braithwaite|Braithwaite, Rodric]] | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | pages = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA296 296–297] }}</ref> When the battle ended in July, the mujahideen had lost an estimated 3,000 troops. One mujahideen commander lamented "the battle of Jalalabad lost us credit won in ten years of fighting."<ref name="MNJAL">{{cite book | author = [[Rodric Braithwaite|Braithwaite, Rodric]] | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA297 297] }}</ref> After the mujahideen's defeat in Jalalabad, Gul blamed the administration of Pakistani Prime Minister [[Benazir Bhutto]] for the defeat. Bhutto eventually sacked Gul.<ref name="indianexpress.com"/>
[[File:Watan Party Remastered.png|thumb|In 1990, Najibullah formed the "Watan Party" which consisted mostly of [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan|PDPA]] Members and members of Daoud Khan's [[National Revolutionary Party of Afghanistan]]]]
Hardline [[Khalq]]ist [[Shahnawaz Tanai]] attempted to overthrow Najibullah in a [[1990 Afghan coup attempt|failed coup attempt]] in March 1990, the coup was stopped however by the [[Khalq]]ist General [[Mohammad Aslam Watanjar|Aslam Watanjar]]. Although Tanai and his forces failed and fled to Pakistan, the coup attempt still managed to show weaknesses in Najibullah's government.

From 1989 to 1990, the Najibullah government was partially successful in building up the Afghan defence forces. The [[Khad|Ministry of State Security]] had established a local militia force which stood at an estimated 100,000 men. The 17th Division in Herat, which had begun the [[1979 Herat uprising]] against PDPA-rule, stood at 3,400 regular troops and 14,000 tribal men. In 1988, the total number of security forces available to the government stood at 300,000.<ref>{{cite book | author = [[Rodric Braithwaite|Braithwaite, Rodric]] | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA298 298] }}</ref> This trend did not continue, and by the summer of 1990, the Afghan government forces were on the defensive again. By the beginning of 1991, the government controlled only 10 percent of Afghanistan, the eleven-year [[Siege of Khost]] had ended in a mujahideen victory and the morale of the Afghan military finally collapsed. In the Soviet Union, Kryuchkov and Shevardnadze had both supported continuing aid to the Najibullah government, but Kryuchkov had been arrested following the failed [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt]] and Shevardnadze had resigned from his posts in the Soviet government in December 1990 – there were no longer any pro-Najibullah people in the Soviet leadership and the Soviet Union was in the middle of an economic and political crisis, which would lead directly to the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] on 26 December 1991. At the same time, [[Boris Yeltsin]] became Russia's new leader, and he had no wish to continue to aid Najibullah's government, which he considered a relic of the past. In the autumn of 1991, Najibullah wrote to Shevardnadze "I didn't want to be president, you talked me into it, insisted on it, and promised support. Now you are throwing me and the Republic of Afghanistan to its fate."<ref name="lastdays">{{cite book | author = [[Rodric Braithwaite|Braithwaite, Rodric]] | title = Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 | publisher = Indo-European Publishing | year = 2007 | isbn = 978-1-60444-002-7 | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=guQQKejG3qUC&pg=PA299 299] }}</ref>

====Fall from power====
By January 1992, Najibullah had become internationally isolated, with the loss of his biggest supporter he decided to consolidate his power over the non [[Pashtuns]] who were considered less loyal to the [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|regime]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Nadiri |first=Khalid |title=Brokers, Bureaucrats, and the Quality of Government: Understanding Development and Decay in Afghanistan and Beyond |publisher=[[Johns Hopkins University]] |year=2017 |pages=155–156}}</ref> This came after complaints from his fellow [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] [[Kochi people|Kochis]] of harassment from an ethnic [[Tajiks|Tajik]] general, Abdul Momin.<ref name=":5" /> Momin had developed secret ties with the [[Tajiks|Tajik]] warlord [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]] and was passing on secret information to Massoud which led to Najibullah ordering the sacking of Momin which was carried out by Juma Achak, an [[Achakzai]] [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] who served as Commander of the Northern Zone and was known to hold [[Pashtun nationalism|Pashtun chauvinist]] views.<ref name=":5" />  

General Momin was replaced with General Rasul, an ethnic [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] [[Khalq]]ist known for his brutal reputation of commander of [[Pul-e-Charkhi prison|Pul-e Charkhi Prison]].<ref name=":5" /> This move offended many of the non Pashtun militias in the North and led to the defection of most  [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]], [[Tajiks]], [[Turkmens|Turkmen]], [[Hazaras|Hazara]] and [[Ismaili Shia]]s militias including ethnic [[Uzbeks|Uzbek]], General [[Abdul Rashid Dostum]] and his 40,000 Uzbek soldiers. The defectors would form an anti-Pashtun coalition known as the Movement of the North (Harakat-e Shamal) and ally with the [[Tajiks|Tajik]] [[Jamiat-e Islami]] and [[Hazaras|Hazara]] [[Hezbe Wahdat]] in taking on the mostly [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]], [[Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Afghan Military]]. 

Many [[Tajiks|Tajik]] [[Parcham]]ites loyal to [[Babrak Karmal]] would defect en masse during the capture of [[Mazar-i-Sharif]] including General [[Mohammad Nabi Azimi]] with the [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] [[Khalq]]ist and [[Watan Party of Afghanistan|Pro-Najibullah]] army and paramilitaries defending the city. On 18 March 1992 Najibullah offered to resign, leading to many [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] [[Khalq]]ist and [[Watan Party of Afghanistan|Najibullah loyalists]] to ally with [[Gulbuddin Hekmatyar|Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's]] [[Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin]] in order to prevent non [[Pashtuns]] from seizing [[Kabul]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Halim Tanwir |first1=Dr. M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oyQDAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA471 |title=AFGHANISTAN: History, Diplomacy and Journalism Volume 1 |date=February 2013 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation |isbn=9781479760909}}</ref> The [[Peshawar Accord]] would be signed on 26 April 1992 between various [[Mujahideen|Mujahadeen]] factions, leading to the creation of the new [[Islamic State of Afghanistan]]. However, [[Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin]] and the [[Khalq]] would continue to fight this new government in the [[Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)|Third Afghan Civil War]].<ref name=":5" />