Taliban victory Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan al-Qaeda Supported by: Abdul Malik Pahlawan's forces Hezbe Wahdat Jamiat-e Islami Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin Islamic State of Afghanistan (Northern Alliance) Supported by: The Battles of Mazar-i-Sharif, were a series of engagements fought during the Third Afghan Civil War between the forces of Abdul Malik Pahlawan and his Hazara allies, Junbish-e Milli, and the Taliban, from May 1997 to August 1998.

This rebel faction took control of five northern provinces of Afghanistan in early 1992, effectively establishing a warlord state with the city of Mazar-i-Sharif as its capital.

[citation needed] The same day, Pakistan recognised the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan, followed by the United Arab Emirates on 27 May.

[11] They began to impose Sharia law, shut down schools and Balkh University, drove women off the streets,[11] and, most significantly, try and disarm the local Hazara and Uzbek population by the end of May,[12][11] contrary to the agreement Malik had made with them.

[citation needed] 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.

[11] The fact that Islamabad had given the Taliban regime official diplomatic recognition so quickly, and urged Saudi Arabia and the UAE to follow suit, further aggravated the situation.

[13][12] Malik's troops proceeded to loot the city including offices of UN agencies (whose aid workers were forced to flee), while dozens of Taliban of Pakistani origin were killed.

[18] Furthermore, Junbish commanders such as Ghulam Haidar Jawzjani were also captured and killed, along with Salam Pahlawan and Rais Omar Bey.

It both inspired Massoud's forces to gain ground north of Kabul and resulted in the Hazaras in central Afghanistan managing to drive off the Taliban that had been besieging the Hazarajat for nine months.

[14] The Taliban's morale had plummeted and they were desperately looking to replenish their losses with new recruits by closing madrasas in Pakistan and Afghanistan to conscript their students.

The coalition sought national reconciliation between the various ethnic and religious groups and across party lines, but this proved to be extremely difficult.

[21] At that point, Dostum returned from exile in Turkey, rallied the Uzbek troops loyal to him, and started attacking Malik's forces.

[23] Dostum gradually reasserted his leadership over Junbish and regained control of the northern provinces outside the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, and eventually defeated Malik and forced him to escape to Iran in December 1997.

Although the main ethnic divide was between Pashtuns (led by the Taliban) and non-Pashtuns (formally united in the Northern Alliance), the latter also engaged in large-scale violence against each other in episodes of ethno-religion-based infighting.

The recent battles created more than 750,000 new refugees from around the areas of Mazar, the Herat front and Kabul, while foreign powers increased material support for their proxies inside Afghanistan.

[26] The Hazaras in Mazar-i-Sharif, officially all unified under the flag of Hezbe Wahdat, were divided into several factions that occasionally clashed with each other and Uzbek groups after repulsing the Taliban.

In February 1998, heavy fighting between Hazaras and Uzbeks erupted in Mazar, and Massoud visited Tehran in a desperate call for help in saving the anti-Taliban alliance.

They imposed an even stricter interpretation of Islamic law, leading to regular amputations, lashings and stonings, especially against women, and the shutdown of the last remaining girls schools.

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

[30] 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.

[32] 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.

[31] In the following days, Taliban forces began to detain male members of ethnic Hazara, Tajik, and Uzbek.

[citation needed] 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.