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PUBLISHED DATE: - 14-07-2024
DOI: -
https://doi.org/10.37547/tajssei/Volume06Issue07-09
RELATIONS BETWEEN AFGHANISTAN AND
PAKISTAN DURING THE TALIBAN REGIME
(1996-2001)
Ikram Khudayberdiyev
Researcher, “History and Anthropolgy of Eastern Countries”, Tashkent State University of
Oriental Studies, Uzbekistan
INTRODUCTION
A new political situation has arisen in Afghanistan.
The pro-Soviet government of M. Najibullah, who
was completely deprived of foreign support in the
conditions of the collapse of the Soviet Union and
the sudden change of the world political landscape
in the late 1980s and early 1990s, managed to
manage Afghanistan only until April 1992. The
difference in the new situation was that during the
existence of the USSR, Afghanistan formed a single
state structure, but now it was divided into zones
of influence controlled by local military-political
groups. It should be noted that after the
withdrawal of the Soviet troops, peace was not
established in Afghanistan, and this gave rise to
further military actions. Also, the struggle of the
two great countries (USA, Russia) in Afghanistan is
not over. Now the “Great Game” continued in the
form of hostilities between the pro-Soviet
President Muhammad Najibullah's 130,000 troops
and 7 opposition groups of 150,000 people
supported by the United States and Pakistan.
By this time, the issue of preserving the integrity of
the country became a cross-cutting issue for
Pakistan. It is known that according to the treaty
signed between Afghanistan and British India in
1893, the ethnic territory of the Pashtuns was
divided into two parts by the Afghan-Pakistani
border - the Durand Line. As a result, Pashtuns
were more in Pakistan than in Afghanistan. The
Afghan government, which claims the entire
territory inhabited by Pashtuns, has never
recognized the Durand Line. [1; 12] That is why
Pakistan has always tried to prevent Pashtuns from
uniting. Also, Pakistan was against the partition of
Afghanistan by Mujahideen. The main reason for
this is that after the collapse of the Soviet Union,
Pakistan was able to establish economic
cooperation with the young countries of Central
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Open Access
Abstract
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Asia. During this period, young independent
countries need new transport corridors to import
their fuel and energy resources, and Pakistan
expressed its readiness to provide them access to
the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. For this
purpose, a plan to create a railway network
between Pakistan and Central Asia was developed
in Islamabad, as well as a pipeline project for the
delivery of Turkmen oil and gas to Pakistan. [2; 56]
METHOD
If these plans were successfully implemented,
official Islamabad would gain economic and
political benefits, since Pakistan would become the
full “owner” of all the main transport corridors of
Central Asia, since all transport communications
passed
through
its
territory.
Therefore,
Afghanistan, which was divided in the mid-1990s,
was the only serious obstacle on the way to the
“Dream of Pakistan”.
To overcome this, Pakistan had to solve the
disunity in Afghanistan and ensure that a
government dependent on Islamabad came to
power. After many years of war, such a task could
only be carried out by military force. However, this
could not be done due to the military and political
situation in Afghanistan in 1992-1994. It is known
that the disintegration of Afghanistan and the
destruction of state institutions as a result of the
civil war do not allow to restore the unity of the
country simply by strengthening one of the existing
military-political groups. [3; 9] At this time,
Pakistan could not allow direct military
intervention of its army, thinking of straining the
relations with the countries of Central Asia.
Because the planned pipeline would connect
Pakistan with these countries.
Thus, in order for the conditions in Afghanistan to
develop in accordance with the interests of
Pakistan, it will be necessary to create a completely
new force that exceeds the combined capabilities of
all Afghan groups with military potential in the
country. At such a time, the “Taliban” movement
turned out to be such a force. This action was
mentioned for the first time when “Taliban”
detachments occupied the city of Kandahar in
1994. At first, the Taliban meant the students of
madrassas located mainly in the Pashtun areas of
Pakistan (North-West Province and Baluchistan).
In the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas,
madrassas were opened specifically to train Afghan
refugees and mujahideen, most of whom were
orphaned boys brought from Afghanistan by
Pakistani intelligence and considered Pashtuns.
They received military training in camps near
Peshawar and were taught to conduct jihad “which
consists of military actions against infidels”. These
formed the basis of the emerging “Taliban”
movement.
Also, according to the former chief of the general
staff of the armed forces of Pakistan, General Mirza
Aslam Bek, such a system of madrassas, which
provides special training to the Taliban, was
established by Pakistan and the United States
“along the Afghan
-Pakistani border to support the
fighting spirit of the Mujahideen.”
[4; 127] It was
formed as a religious-ideological belt. By the
beginning of the 90s, more than 80,000 Afghan
“intransigents”
were
educated
in
these
madrasas.[5; 198] Although several leaders of the
“Taliban” movement participated in the "jihad"
organized by the USA against the USSR, this
movement was not considered an association of
mujahideen. They were trained in the camps of
Afghan refugees in the North-Eastern region of
Pakistan and did not participate in the battles of the
1980s.
In the 1990s, the resumption of civil war in
Pakistan killed 3 million people. did not allow
Afghan refugees to return to their homeland. The
“Taliban” movement was formed mainly from
these refugees, most of whom were born and grew
up in refugee camps. Ahmad Rashid, one of the
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authors who dealt with the problem of the Taliban,
describes the situation at that time as follows:
“These young men are the Mujahideen I knew in
the 1980s - they are able to tell detailed stories
about their tribe and clan, their abandoned farms
and It was a world apart from the men who
remembered the valley and could tell legends and
stories from the history of Afghans. These young
men were considered to be from the generation of
those who had never seen their homeland in
peacetime, who had never seen Afghanistan in a
state of war against invaders or against its own
people... They had no roots and no work, they were
war orphans who were economically poor and had
a weak sense of identity..”. [6; 30] At the same time,
the Taliban movement was not just a product of
governments and vested interests. This new
movement emerged in 1994 as a result of two
factors:
First, as a result of social and political desperation
that created soldiers ready to go into battle;
Second, it suddenly emerged, rapidly developed,
and achieved military success with the help of
external financial, arms, and advisory services from
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.
In 1994, the political leadership of this movement
was gathered from people who do not belong to the
traditional elite system of Afghan society. In
particular, the political leader - Muhammad Umar
Okhunzade, who was previously considered one of
the field commanders of the Mujahideen, and
another of the founders of the movement was
Abdurrahman, who sought refuge in Pakistan when
the Soviets entered the country. In addition, among
the leaders of the “Taliban” there was Shah Sarwar,
who was in charge of the intelligence unit under the
Soviet command, Muhammad Akbar, a former
official of the secret communist police department,
and General Muhammad Gilani. From this point of
view, the “Taliban” movement, made up of people
who do not have stable connections in Afghan
society for various reasons, with the support of
Pakistan, is trying to establish order in Afghanistan,
eliminate its disintegration, and transport to the
Central Asian region. it can be assumed that he can
perform the task of opening the corridor. In doing
so, it was important for official Islamabad to
remain true to the main goals of Pakistani politics.
RESULTS
Taliban movement has exerted an ideological
influence on ordinary people, presenting itself as a
religious movement committed to eliminating the
evil that is being done to ordinary people. “The
simple belief in Islam, instilled in their minds by
ordinary village mullahs, was the only support they
could hope for and gave some meaning to their
lives,” one researcher wrote about the ordinary
Taliban. These people, who are not ready for
anything, and are not even aware of the traditional
occupations of their ancestors, such as farming,
cattle breeding, or profession, were the weak social
stratum of Afghanistan”. The ideology of the
“Taliban” movement was considered a mixture of
ideas developed with this layer in mind.
In fact, the program of the Taliban based on the
ideas of “Pure Islam” was completely formed
during the time of Benazir Bhutto (prime minister
of Pakistan in 1994). He admitted that during his
time, the movement was provided with large-scale
military and financial support from the United
States, Britain, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. It was
after that that the Taliban managed to enter
Afghanistan and make a triumphant march
towards the north, where there was a fight among
the Mujahideen's military (field) commanders. It
should be noted that the official reason for the
appearance of the Taliban movement on the Afghan
political scene is well known. “One of the big
Pakistani businessmen, the former president of
Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari (husband of Benazir
Bhutto) sent the first test convoy to Central Asia
through Afghanistan, and this convoy was looted
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by the Afghan Mujahideen.” [7; 2] Soon after, in
1994, Taliban forces attacked the southern regions
of the Mujahideen, controlled by a large number of
independent militia commanders, mostly ethnic
Pashtuns, and captured the city of Kandahar and
large parts of the southern provinces, where the
population is mainly Pashtun.
DISCUSSION
After the Taliban entered the country, supporters
of “pure Islam”, known as “Wahhabis”, opposed the
combination of secular and religious management
of the Muslim society and began to fight against the
traditional elite of the Muslim society. For example,
on March 12, 1995, the head of Hazari Shiite party
“Hizbi Vahdat” Abdulla Ali Mazari w
as killed by the
Taliban. After the capture of Kabul, on September
26, 1996, the former president of the country,
Najibullah, was hanged.
The military success of the “Taliban” movement
was an expression of the presence of foreign
partners of this movement. In the conditions of the
long-standing balance of power and the ongoing
civil war, all military resources are well known, and
additional opportunities could come only from
outside the country. At the same time, in less than
a year, the Taliban movement can field more than
20,000 well-organized fighters, equipped with
tanks and artillery, receiving air support and
controlling many regions of southern and western
Afghanistan. became a paramilitary group.
As noted by Afghan scholar Martin Evene: “It is
incredible that the Taliban, a force composed
mainly of ex-guerrillas and unprofessional
students, could operate with the level of skill and
organization it has demonstrated almost from the
beginning of its movement.” Among its members,
no doubt, are former representatives of the Afghan
armed forces, but the speed and skill of their
offensive operations, as well as the quality of their
communications, aerial bombing and artillery fire,
made them stand out against the Pakistani military
or at least, inevitably leads to the conclusion that
they are indebted to them for their professional
help.[ 8; 182] In addition, Saudi Arabia has been
continuously supporting the Taliban movement
financially and materially. By mid-1996, Saudi
Arabia began sending money, vehicles, and fuel to
Kabul to support Taliban attacks. In fact, the Saudi
oil company “Delta Oil” is a partner of the “Unocal”
company in the estimated project of the pipeline,
and the victory of the “Taliban” movement was
very necessary for its construction.[9; 84]
Thus, the “Taliban” movement initially captured
Kandahar and the southern regions where there
are more Pashtuns. However, instead of attacking
Kabul, the Taliban directed the main attack in the
northwest direction, towards the Turkmen-Afghan
border. Because the Taliban faced resistance from
the army of Ahmad Shah Mas'ud on the outskirts of
Kabul. But the main reason is different, "the Taliban
crossed the Kandahar-Herat road, that is, the part
of the main highway that should connect Pakistan
with Central Asia, which belongs to Afghanistan.
Interestingly, in the summer of 1994, the railway
construction project from the city of Kushka in
Turkmenistan to the city of Chaman in Pakistan
was approved. This branch was supposed to pass
through the western provinces of Afghanistan
through Herat and Kandahar. After some time, the
Taliban appeared here."
CONCLUSION
Assessing the current situation in Afghanistan, we
can come to the following conclusions. Afghanistan
has become a field of criminal activities, a hotbed of
international terrorism and extremism, and the
main country where narcotics are cultivated during
the period of increased control of the Taliban. The
situation is becoming more and more tense, and the
risk of military actions spreading to other countries
in the region is increasing.
Anyone who thinks that the Afghan conflict
is only a local and regional tension is completely
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wrong. This issue is becoming a huge problem that
threatens the peace and tranquility of other regions
and peoples located far from Afghanistan.
Today, one truth is becoming increasingly clear to
all of us. That is, the reason why there is no end to
the war that has been going on in Afghanistan for
many years, and peace is not being established in
the fragile Afghan land, is the conflict of strategic
and geopolitical interests of the world's most
powerful and powerful countries. is becoming
increasingly clear. Perhaps that is why the work
related to the solution of the Afghan problem does
not go beyond many discussions and the
announcement of various sanctions.
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