Under the protection of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Afghan Uzbek, Mazar-i-Sharif, the largest industrial complex in Afghanistan, enjoys relative stability.

Herat is generally peaceful and secure and begins to reclaim its traditional role as commercial centre along trade routes with neighbouring Iran and Turkmenistan.

[citation needed] UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali appoints former Tunisian foreign minister Mahmoud Mestiri head of a special peace commission.

Hamid al-Ghabid, secretary-general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, leads a peace effort, but individual OIC member states are unable to agree on an appropriate solution.

Although the delegates endorse Rabbani's continuance as president, they initiate measures aimed at organizing a Loya Jirga to choose a new government.

[citation needed] A senior mullah from the southern city of Kandahar, Mohammad Omar, sets up the Taliban (Persian for "students") movement, which quickly becomes a powerful guerrilla force.

While maintaining a low profile in a council in Kandahar, the Taliban declare that their goal is to disarm all factions and create a united, Islamic government in Afghanistan.