The First Phase of Civil War

Abstract

After the Soviet withdrawal, the external front, under the pressure of the United States and the Pakistani military intelligence service, ISI, began to form an interim government to centralize the political and military operation against the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul. The first attempt resulted in a severe confrontation between the Iran-based leaders and the Pakistan-based leaders, and the external front leaders. This confrontation was fueled by the political conflict between the Iranian and Saudi Arabian regimes that were supporting particular groups on both sides. Therefore, this conflict raised the issue of power sharing between the majority Afghan Sunni and the minority Afghan Shia. Eventually, another dichotomy arose over the issue of ethnic confrontation. The external front could not reach a practical solution and weakened the unification of the internal front by injecting these contradictions inside the country. The external front marginalized the internal front’s participation from its decision-making mechanism.