Editing Taliban (section)

=== Afghan Civil War (1992–1996) ===
{{See also|Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)|Battle of Kabul (1992–1996)}}
In April 1992, after the fall of the [[Democratic Republic of Afghanistan|Soviet-backed régime]] of [[Mohammad Najibullah]], many Afghan political parties agreed on a peace and power-sharing agreement, the [[Peshawar Accord]], which created the [[Islamic State of Afghanistan]] and appointed an interim government for a transitional period. [[Gulbuddin Hekmatyar]]'s [[Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin]], [[Hezbe Wahdat]], and [[Ittihad-i Islami]] did not participate. The state was paralysed from the start, due to rival groups contending for total power over [[Kabul]] and Afghanistan.<ref name="photius, peshawar">[https://photius.com/countries/afghanistan/government/afghanistan_government_the_peshawar_accord~72.html 'The Peshawar Accord, 25 April 1992']. Website photius.com. Text from 1997, purportedly sourced on The Library of Congress Country Studies (US) and CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 22 December 2017.</ref>{{better source needed|date=August 2021}}

Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin party refused to recognise the interim government, and in April infiltrated Kabul to take power for itself, thus starting this civil war. In May, Hekmatyar started attacks against government forces and Kabul.<ref name="Human Rights Watch (4)" /> Hekmatyar received operational, financial and military support from Pakistan's ISI.<ref name="Neamatollah Nojumi">{{Cite book |first=Neamatollah |last=Nojumi |title=The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan: Mass Mobilization, Civil War, and the Future of the Region |publisher=Palgrave|location= New York |year=2002 }}{{ISBN?}}</ref> With that help, Hekmatyar's forces were able to destroy half of Kabul.<ref name="Amin Saikal" /> Iran assisted the Hezbe Wahdat forces of [[Abdul Ali Mazari|Abdul-Ali Mazari]]. Saudi Arabia supported the Ittihad-i Islami faction.<ref name="Human Rights Watch (4)">{{Cite web |title=Blood-Stained Hands, Past Atrocities in Kabul and Afghanistan's Legacy of Impunity |date=6 July 2005 |url=https://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/07/06/blood-stained-hands |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]]}}</ref><ref name="Amin Saikal">{{Cite book |first=Amin |last=Saikal |title=Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival |publisher=I.B. Tauris & Co |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-85043-437-5 |edition= |location=London & New York |page=352 |author-link=Amin Saikal}}</ref><ref name="Roy Gutman">Gutman, Roy (2008): ''How We Missed the Story: Osama Bin Laden, the Taliban and the Hijacking of Afghanistan'', Endowment of the United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC.{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=July 2023}}</ref> The conflict between these militias also escalated into war.

Due to this sudden initiation of civil war, working government departments, police units or a system of justice and accountability for the newly created Islamic State of Afghanistan did not have time to form. Atrocities were committed by individuals inside different factions.<ref>[https://www.hrw.org/report/2005/07/06/blood-stained-hands/past-atrocities-kabul-and-afghanistans-legacy-impunity "Blood-Stained Hands, Past Atrocities in Kabul and Afghanistan's Legacy of Impunity"]. [[Human Rights Watch]]. 6 July 2005.</ref> Ceasefires, negotiated by representatives of the Islamic State's newly appointed Defense Minister [[Ahmad Shah Massoud]], President [[Sibghatullah Mojaddedi]] and later President [[Burhanuddin Rabbani]] (the interim government), or officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), commonly collapsed within days.<ref name="Human Rights Watch (4)" /> The countryside in northern Afghanistan, parts of which were under the control of Defense Minister Massoud, remained calm and some reconstruction took place. The city of Herat under the rule of Islamic State ally [[Ismail Khan]] also witnessed relative calm.{{citation needed|date=September 2019}} Meanwhile, southern Afghanistan was neither under the control of foreign-backed militias nor the government in Kabul, but was ruled by local leaders such as [[Gul Agha Sherzai]] and their militias.