Inter-Services Intelligence in the context of "Afghan Civil War (1992–1996)"

The Afghan conflict (Pashto: دافغانستان جنګونه; Dari: درگیری افغانستان) is the series of events that have kept Afghanistan in a near-continuous state of armed conflict since the 1970s. Early instability followed the collapse of the Kingdom of Afghanistan in the largely non-violent 1973 coup d'état, which deposed Afghan monarch Mohammad Zahir Shah in absentia, ending his 40-year-long reign. With the concurrent establishment of the Republic of Afghanistan, headed by Mohammad Daoud Khan, the country's relatively peaceful and stable period in modern history came to an end. However, all-out fighting did not erupt until after 1978, when the Saur Revolution violently overthrew Khan's government and established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Subsequent unrest over the radical reforms that were being pushed by the then-ruling People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) led to unprecedented violence, prompting a large-scale pro-PDPA military intervention by the Soviet Union in 1979. In the ensuing Soviet–Afghan War, the anti-Soviet Afghan mujahideen received extensive support from Pakistan, the United States, and Saudi Arabia in a joint covert effort that was dubbed Operation Cyclone.

Although the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989, the various mujahideen factions continued to fight against the PDPA government, which collapsed in the face of the Peshawar Accord in 1992. However, the Peshawar Accord failed to remain intact in light of the mujahideen's representatives' inability to reach an agreement on a power-sharing coalition for the new government, triggering a multi-sided civil war between them. By 1996, the Taliban, supported by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, had seized the capital city of Kabul in addition to approximately 90% of the country, while northern Afghanistan remained under the authority of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. During this time, the Northern Alliance's Islamic State of Afghanistan enjoyed widespread international recognition and was represented at the United Nations, as opposed to the Taliban's Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which only received diplomatic recognition from three nations. Despite the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the Northern Alliance continued to resist in another civil war for the next five years.

The Northern Alliance, officially known as the National United Islamic Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan, was an Afghan military alliance of groups that operated between early 1992 and 2001 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was formed by military leaders such as Ahmad Shah Massoud, Burhanuddin Rabbani, Abdul Rashid Dostum, Abdul Momim and Ali Mazari. It consisted mainly of ethnicities from northern Afghanistan, such as Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, and Turkmens, as opposed to the Pashtun-led Taliban. At that time, many non-Pashtun Northerners originally with the Republic of Afghanistan led by Mohammad Najibullah became disaffected with Pashtun Khalqist Afghan Army officers holding control over non-Pashtun militias in the North. The alliance's capture of Mazar-i-Sharif and more importantly the supplies kept there crippled the Afghan military and began the end of Najibullah's government. Following the collapse of Najibullah's government, the Alliance would fall with a second civil war breaking out. However, following the Taliban's takeover of Kabul and establishment of their Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the United Front was reassembled.

The Northern Alliance fought a defensive war against the Taliban regime. They received support from Iran, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United States and Uzbekistan, while the Taliban were extensively backed by the Pakistan Army and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. By 2001, the Northern Alliance controlled less than 10% of the country, cornered in the north-east and based in Badakhshan province. The US invaded Afghanistan, providing support to Northern Alliance troops on the ground in a two-month war against the Taliban, which they won in December 2001. With the Taliban forced from control of the country, the Northern Alliance was dissolved as members and parties supported the new Afghan Interim Administration, with some members later becoming part of the Karzai administration.

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (born 14 April 1965; Urdu: خالد شیخ محمد‎; sometimes also spelled Shaykh; and known by at least 50 pseudonyms including his initials KSM), is a Kuwaiti-born Pakistani terrorist, and the former head of propaganda for al-Qaeda. As of 2025, he is held by the United States at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp under terrorism-related charges. He was named as "the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks" in the 2004 9/11 Commission Report.

Mohammed was a member of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization al-Qaeda, leading al-Qaeda's propaganda operations from around 1999 until late 2001. Mohammed was captured on 1 March 2003, in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi by a combined operation of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Immediately after his capture, Mohammed was extraordinarily rendered to secret CIA prison sites in Afghanistan, then Poland, where he was interrogated and tortured by U.S. operatives. By December 2006, he had been transferred to military custody at Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

The AK-74 (Russian: Автомат Калашникова образца 1974 года, tr. Avtomat Kalashnikova obraztsa 1974 goda, lit. 'Kalashnikov assault rifle model 1974') is an assault rifle designed by small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1974 as a successor to the AKM. While primarily associated with the Soviet Union, it has been used by many countries since the 1970s. It is chambered for the 5.45×39mm cartridge, which replaced the 7.62×39mm cartridge of Kalashnikov's earlier automatic weapons for the Soviet Armed Forces.

The rifle first saw service with Soviet forces in the Soviet–Afghan War from 1979. The head of the Afghan bureau of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the intelligence agency of Pakistan, claimed that the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) paid $5,000 for the first AK-74 captured by the Afghan mujahideen during the war.

The Afghan Civil War of 1989–1992 (Pashto: له ۱۹۸۹ څخه تر ۱۹۹۲ پوري د افغانستان کورنۍ جګړه), also known as the First Afghan Civil War, took place between the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan on 15 February 1989 which ended the Soviet–Afghan War, and 27 April 1992, the day after the proclamation of the Peshawar Accords proclaiming a new interim Afghan government which was supposed to start serving on 28 April 1992.

Mujahideen groups, some of them ostensibly united as part of the "Afghan Interim Government", in the years 1989–1992 proclaimed as their conviction that they were battling the hostile "puppet regime" of the Republic of Afghanistan in Kabul. In March 1989, the "Afghan Interim Government" in cooperation with the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) attacked the city of Jalalabad but they were defeated by June in what is now known as the Battle of Jalalabad. Hekmatyar's Hezbi Islami would pull their support for the Afghan Interim Government following the loss in Jalalabad.

Brigadier General Amir Sultan Tarar, also known by his nom de guerre Colonel Imam (4 April 1944 – 23 January 2011), was a Pakistani military officer and diplomat who served as the Consul-General of Pakistan at Herat, Afghanistan. A Pakistan Army officer and special operations specialist, he was a member of the Special Service Group (SSG), Pakistan's army special forces, and was an intelligence officer in the ISI. A veteran of the Soviet–Afghan War, he is widely believed to have played a key role in the formation of the Taliban, after having helped train the Afghan mujahideen on behalf of the United States in the 1980s.

"Colonel Imam," as Tarar was also known, was a commando-guerrilla warfare specialist, trained Mullah Omar and other Taliban factions and leaders. Colonel Imam remained active in Afghanistan's civil war until the 2001 United States led War on Terrorism, and supported the Taliban publicly through media.

Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah (born 1968) NI(M) HJ HI(M) is a Pakistani military officer who is currently serving as Pakistan's first Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) and the 11th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Pakistan Army concurrently. Prior to becoming the COAS, he was posted at the GHQ as quartermaster general. He has formerly led both of Pakistan's primary intelligence agencies, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Military Intelligence (MI).

Munir received the Sword of Honour for his performance as a cadet in the Officers Training School (OTS), Mangla. He commanded the XXX Corps in Gujranwala from 17 June 2019 to 6 October 2021. He served as the 28th Director-General of the ISI until he was replaced by Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed on 16 June 2019. On 20 May 2025, Munir was promoted to the rank of Field Marshal for his leadership during the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict, becoming the second-ever person to attain the rank in Pakistan's history after Ayub Khan, and the only field marshal to serve as the Chief of Army Staff simultaneously. He is also a recipient of the Hilal-i-Jur'at, Pakistan's second-highest gallantry award.