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Calm returns to Kabul as rebels impose strict rule
September 28, 1996
Web posted at: 9:30 p.m. EDT (0130 GMT)In this story:
- Women banned from the streets
- Seminary students take control
- Struggle for recognition
- Related sites and stories
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Victorious Taliban rebels concentrated on consolidating their hold over Kabul Saturday and swiftly imposed their strict interpretation of Islamic law on the Afghan capital.
Rebels claimed that they executed Saturday two aides to former Afghan President Najibullah, including his personal secretary and bodyguard.
Najibullah, who ruled the country with backing from the Soviet Union during the 1980s, was hanged Friday along with his brother and their bloated and bloodied corpses were displayed publicly.
Their bodies, hanged from a concrete traffic post outside the presidential palace, were cut down Saturday, dumped outside a hospital and later turned over to the Red Cross, a Taliban spokesman said.
The rebels captured former president Najibullah at Kabul's United Nations compound where he had been living, sheltered by the U. N., since his ouster in April, 1992. International aid groups say that the U.N. abandoned its compound in the city the day before the Taliban arrived, and Najibullah was apparently left behind at the compound.
The U.N. Security Council Saturday expressed grave concern about the military confrontation in Afghanistan. The council also expressed dismay at the violation of its premises in Kabul and at the "brutal execution by the Taliban of the former President of Afghanistan, Najibullah, and others who had taken refuge in the UN premises."
Women banned from the streets
Riding in pickup trucks, heavily-armed Taliban fighters Saturday patrolled the streets of Kabul, appealing for calm. They encountered little resistance from government troops who had apparently retreated 40 miles north of the capital.
"Brothers, come to work," the rebels broadcast over Radio Kabul in an appeal for normalcy.
Shops opened, and no gunfire in the capital was reported, but the appeal to return to work didn't apply to all citizens.
Women are forbidden to report to work under the Taliban's strict Islamic fundamentalist rules. They must stay at home, not be seen on the streets, and cover themselves with clothing from head to toe.
Men are told to wear a skull cap or turban and begin growing their beards.
Taliban preachers have called for closing all girls' schools and have promised to execute anyone drinking alcohol or committing adultery.
A woman journalist was forbidden to attend a news conference. The driver of another reporter said a music cassette was confiscated from his car because it was not Islamic. Aid agencies and even international journalists in Kabul have been told that their female staff should not be seen in the streets.
Despite the restrictions, aid agencies are negotiating for permission to begin aid flights into Kabul as soon as possible. Few supplies have been airlifted into the capital in recent weeks.
The International Red Cross told CNN that Taliban officials have granted permission to bring a convoy of trucks filled with food and medical supplies into Kabul.
Seminary students take control
The new Taliban-appointed "ruling council of six" Mullahs is expected to arrive in Kabul during the weekend to consolidate control over the capital. Mullahs are devout muslims trained in Islamic law and doctrine who frequently hold official positions in Islamic countries.
The Taliban militia first emerged two years ago as a religious student movement. Before long, they had captured about two thirds of Afghanistan -- most of it without a fight. But the time its forces entered Kabul Friday most government troops had fled.
Over the weekend, Taliban forces pursued the government's army out of Kabul and are said to be approaching the Parwan provincial capital of Charikar 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Kabul.
Four tanks, flying the plain white flag of Taliban, guarded the edge of the militia's territory at Bagram air base. About six miles away, about 20 pro-government fighters manned a checkpoint just south of Charikar.
Ousted Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani and his top commander Ahmed Shah Masood were seen late Friday at Masood's headquarters at Jabul-al Siraj, 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of Charikar, aid workers said.
There was no attempt by either side to seize new ground or launch an offensive, said a Taliban commander, Mohammed Moussa.
Struggle for recognition
Ousted president Rabbani called on his followers to "struggle against conspiracies of the stooges of foreign circles, the so-called Taliban." He said he ordered the army to retreat from Kabul to avoid a bloodbath.
Rabbani has called on world leaders not to recognize the Taliban's government.
But Kabul Radio broadcast a message from Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, saying his movement wanted good relations with all peace-loving countries.
The United States expressed hope that Taliban would move toward reconciliation and held out the possibility of establishing full diplomatic ties.
China voiced concern about the fighting, but stopped short of recognizing the rebel government.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati Saturday urged groups in Afghanistan to share power and avoid outside interference.
Shi'ite Iran has supported the ousted Kabul government and was hostile to the Sunni fundamentalist Taliban, which the Iranian media have accused of being manipulated by Pakistan and the United States.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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- Afghan rebels seize capital, hang former president - September 27, 1996
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