Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif (1997–98)

Afghan Civil War (1996–2001 period)
Part of the Afghan Civil War
Date May 25, 1997 – 14 August 1998 Location Near Mazar-i-Sharif, Northern Afghanistan Coordinates: 36°40′N 66°59′E / 36.667°N 66.983°E / 36.667; 66.983 Result Taliban victory and capture of Mazar-e Sharif
Belligerents
Junbishi Forces Forces loyal to Ismail Khan	Afghan Liberation Party Hezbe Wahdat Islamic Movement of Afghanistan Jamiat-e Islami Hezbi Islami	Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Al-Qaeda 055 Brigade[1]
Commanders and leaders
Abdul Rashid Dostum Ismail Khan (POW)	Abdul Malik Pahlawan Mohammad Mohaqiq Ahmed Shah Massoud Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Sayed Jafar Naderi	Mohammed Omar Obaidullah Akhund Abdul-Razzaq Akhoundzada Mohammad Ghaus Ihsanullah Ihsan Mullah Dadullah Osama bin Laden Ayman al-Zawahiri

The Battles of Mazar-e Sharif were a part of the Afghan Civil War and took place in 1997 and 1998 between the forces of Abdul Malik Pahlawan and his Hazara allies, Junbish-e Milli-yi Islami-yi Afghanistan, and the Taliban.

Background

On 25 June 1996, the brother of Abdul Malik Pahlawan, Rasul, was gunned down along with 15 of his bodyguards. In May 1997, angry at Abdul Rashid Dostum's alleged involvement in this, Malik and other commanders such as Qari Alam Rosekh, General Abdul Majid Rouzi and Abdul Ghaffar Pahlawan met with Taliban commanders Mullah Abdul Razzaq and Mullah Ghaus in Baghdis. There they agreed that Malik would betray Dostum, capture Ismail Khan and take control of the city of Mazar-e Sharif.^[2] According to some sources the deal was a three-point proposal in which it was agreed that the Taliban would not disarm northern troops, Northern Parties would have complete control over Northern Afghanistan and Malik would co-ordinate with the Taliban to bring about an Islamic dispensation.^[3]

Battles and massacres

Taliban take control

On 22 May 1997 fighting broke out between Dostum's forces and the Taliban in Andkhoy and Khwaja Dokoh. Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud sent reinforcements but did not prevail. Dostum retreated to Mazar-i Sharif and fled to Turkey from Uzbekistan on 24 May, with his family going one day before. On 25 May, Abdul Majid Rouzi arrested Ismail Khan in Baghdis and handed him over to Abdul Razzaq, the governor of Herat where he was sent to Kandahar prison.

Taliban ousted

Although the exact details of the agreement were not clear, it appears as if the Taliban had failed to take their part. Abdul Razzak was appointed as the head of the Military in the north, rather than Malik, and Malik in compensation was given the insulting position of Deputy Foreign Minister. On 25 May, the Taliban entered Mazar-e Sharif. In the Hazara sections of the city, particularly in the north-east and east areas around Syedabad, local Wahdat commanders and armed "civilians" began to enlist themselves in resistance.

On 30 May, heavy fighting broke out around Syedabad. Taliban fighters were ambushed. At this point, Malik allied his forces with Wahdat, taking thousands of Taliban soldiers prisoner in Maimana, Shiberghan and Mazar-e Sharif.

1997 massacre of Taliban prisoners

It is reported that between May and July 1997 Abdul Malik Pahlawan (or Malik's brother General Gul Mohammad Pahlawan^[4]) executed thousands of Taliban members, that he personally did many of the killings by slaughtering the prisoners. "He is widely believed to have been responsible for the brutal massacre of up to 3,000 Taliban prisoners after inviting them into Mazar-i-Sharif."^[5]

Commanders such as Mullah Abdul Razzaq, Mullah Mohammad Ghaus who was the acting Taliban Foreign Minister and State Bank Governor, and Maulvi Ehsanullah were taken prisoner.^[6] Furthermore, Junbish commanders such as Ghulam Haidar Jawzjani were also captured and killed, along with Salam Pahlawan and Rais Omar Bey.

Several of the Taliban escaped and reported what had happened.

Taliban counter-attack

Malik then proceeded to reincorporate Jamiat-e Islami into the Mazar city's administration. However, after 4 months, in September 1997, the Taliban bombarded the city, laying siege to it for 23 days. Looting, killings by both Malik and Dostum's forces was reported.

By July 1998 the Taliban had taken control of much of the area north of Herat, including the road linked to Maimana, where Dostum had returned and ousted Malik's forces (and also many Pashtoon civilians living in Faryab). This cut off one of the main supply lines.

Hezb-e Islam reportedly switched sides and joined the Taliban, having encircled the front lines of Hezbe Wahdat at Qalai-Zaini-Takhta Pul.^[7]

The 055 Brigade were reported to have been used in the battle.^[1]

Recapture and slaughter

At 10 am on 8 August 1998, the Taliban entered Mazar and for the next two days drove their pickup trucks "up and down the narrow streets of Mazar-i-Sharif shooting to the left and right and killing everything that moved — shop owners, cart pullers, women and children shoppers and even goats and donkeys."^[8] More than 8000 noncombatants were reported killed in Mazar-i-Sharif and later in Bamiyan.^[9] In addition, the Taliban were criticized for forbidding anyone from burying the corpses for the first six days (contrary to the injunctions of Islam, which demands immediate burial) while the remains rotted in the summer heat and were eaten by dogs.^[10] The Taliban also reportedly sought out and massacred members of the Hazara, while in control of Mazar.^[8]

In Qalai-Zaini-Takhta Pul about 1,500–3,000 Wahdat fighters were trapped. Many were executed on the spot, while approximately 700 attempted to flee in pick up trucks, many being killed on the way. Commanders of Wahdat such as Muhammad Muhaqiq evacuated by helicopter.

One group, Sipah-i Sahaba, associated with Pakistan and the Taliban, also captured the Iranian consulate and shot dead one journalist and eight intelligence and diplomatic officers.^[11]

The slaughter has been credited to a number of factors—ethnic difference, suspicion of Hazara loyalty to Shia Iran, anger at the loss of life suffered in an earlier unsuccessful Taliban takeover of Mazarwas—including takfir by the Taliban of the Shia Hazaras.^[8] After the attack, Mullah Niazi, the commander of the attack and the new governor of Mazar, declared from Mazar's central mosque:

"Last year you rebelled against us and killed us. From all your homes you shot at us. Now we are here to deal with you. The Hazaras are not Muslims and now have to kill Hazaras. You either accept to be Muslims or leave Afghanistan. Wherever you go we will catch you. If you go up we will pull you down by your feet; if you hide below, we will pull you up by your hair."^[12]

It was this capture of Mazar-i-Sharif, the last major city in Afghanistan to fall to the Taliban, that prompted Pakistan's recognition of the Taliban regime. Soon afterward, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia extended official recognition to the regime, while Turkmenistan resumed relations – although the Taliban were not officially recognized by Turkmenbashi as the rulers of Afghanistan.

2001 Dasht-i-Leili

In December 2001 during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, it was reported that Dostum's forces, who were fighting the Taliban alongside the US Special Forces, intentionally suffocated as many as 3,000 Taliban prisoners in container trucks in an incident that has become known as the Dasht-i-Leili.^{[13][14][15][16][17][18][19]} The Taliban prisoners were shot and/or suffocated while being transferred by U.S. and Junbish-i Milli soldiers from Kunduz to Sheberghan prison in Afghanistan. The site of the graves is believed to be in the Dasht-i-Leili desert just west of Sheberghan, in the Jowzjan Province.

References