Editing Gulbuddin Hekmatyar (section)

==Relations with the Taliban==
{{further|Afghan Civil War (1996–2001)}}
The Pakistani military had supported Hekmatyar until then in the hope of installing a Pashtun-dominated government in Kabul, which would be friendly to their interests. By 1994, it had become clear that Hekmatyar would never achieve this, and that his extremism had antagonised most Pashtuns, so the Pakistanis began turning towards the predominantly Pashtun [[Taliban]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Rashid|first=Ahmed|author-link=Ahmed Rashid|title=Taliban: Militant islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia|year=2000|publisher=Yale University Press|location=[[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]]|isbn=978-0-300-08902-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/talibanmilitant000rash/page/26 26–27]|url=https://archive.org/details/talibanmilitant000rash/page/26}}</ref> After capturing Kandahar in November 1994, the Taliban made rapid progress towards Kabul, making inroads into Hezb-e Islami positions. They captured [[Maidan Wardak Province|Wardak]] on 2 February 1995, and moved on to [[Maidan Shahr]] on 10 February and Mohammed Agha the next day. Very soon, Hekmatyar found himself caught between the advancing Taliban and the government forces, and the morale of his men collapsed.<ref>Rashid, ''Taliban'', p. 34</ref> On 14 February, he was forced to abandon his headquarters at Charasiab, from where rockets were fired at Kabul, and flee in disorder to [[Surobi, Kabul|Surobi]].<ref>Maley, ''The Afghanistan Wars'', p. 204</ref>

Nonetheless, in May 1996, Rabbani and Hekmatyar finally formed a power-sharing government in which Hekmatyar was made prime minister. Rabbani was anxious to enhance the legitimacy of his government by enlisting the support of Pashtun leaders. However, the Mahipar agreement did not bring any such benefits to him as Hekmatyar had little grassroots support, but did have many adverse effects: it caused outrage among Jamiat supporters, and among the population of Kabul, who had endured Hekmatyar's attacks for the last four years. Moreover, the agreement was clearly not what the Pakistanis wanted, and convinced them of Hekmatyar's weakness, and that they should shift their aid entirely over to the Taliban. Hekmatyar took office on 26 June, and immediately started issuing severe decrees on women's dress that struck a sharp contrast with the relatively liberal policy that Massoud had followed until then. The Taliban responded to the agreement with a further spate of rocket attacks on the capital.<ref>Maley, ''The Afghanistan Wars'', pp. 215–216</ref> The Rabbani/Hekmatyar regime lasted only a few months before the Taliban took control of Kabul in September 1996. Many of the Hezb-e Islami local commanders joined the Taliban, "both out of ideological sympathy and for reason of tribal solidarity."<ref>''The Columbia World Dictionary of Islamism'', Olivier Roy, Antoine Sfeir, editors, (2007), p. 133</ref> Those that did not were expelled by the Taliban. In Pakistan, Hezb-e Islami training camps "were taken over by the Taliban and handed over" to [[Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam]] (JUI) groups such as the [[Sipah-e-Sahaba]] Pakistan (SSP).<ref>Rashid, ''Taliban'', p. 92</ref> Hekmatyar then fled to Massoud's stronghold in Panjshir who, despite Hekmatyar's history of animosity towards him, helped him flee to [[Iran]] in 1997, where he is said to have resided for almost six years.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/monitoring/149384.stm|title=BBC News &#124; Monitoring &#124; Hekmatyar: 'neither captured nor wounded'|website=news.bbc.co.uk|accessdate=Aug 24, 2021}}</ref> Isolated from Afghanistan he is reported to have "lost ... his power base back home" to defections or inactivity of former members. He was also distrusted by the Iranian Government, who found him too unpredictable, unreliable, and an unnecessary liability, considering its tense relations at the time with the Taliban and the Pakistani government. Despite his pleas, the [[Iranian Revolutionary Guards]] refused to establish a proxy through any of his organizations or assist him in any way.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2701547.stm | work=BBC News | title=Profile: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar | date=2010-03-23}}</ref> Allegedly, they even cut his phone lines and turned away anyone who wished to see him in his villa in North Tehran.<ref>{{cite news|last=Karon |first=Tony |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,212595,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020224230918/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,212595,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 24, 2002 |title=Iran, Afghanistan Juggle Hot Potato Hekmatyar |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=2002-02-23 |access-date=2014-06-20}}</ref>