Afghan Rebels Take Kabul, Hang Najibullah

The bloated and beaten body of the former President hung limply outside the palace, a few blocks from the compound where he had been in hiding since he was overthrown in 1992. Alongside Najibullah was the body of his brother, Shahpur Ahmedzi, who had been his security chief during the six years of his communist government.

The execution of Najibullah marked the final victory of the Taliban militia over the government of President Baharunuddin Rabbani, which had emerged after Najibullah's fall.

Shortly after dawn, thousands of Kabul residents ventured from their homes to find Najibullah's body outside the palace from where Rabbani had fled. A festive mood seized the cheering crowd, apparently hopeful the Taliban victory would end four years of factional wars and rocketing of the Afghan capital that killed as many as 30,000 residents and levelled huge swathes of the city.

 

The Taliban began as a movement of former Islamic seminary students. In areas they previously captured, they enforced strict Islamic codes, closing girls schools, restricting the movement of women unaccompanied by men and imposing harsh criminal punishment of execution and amputations. The whereabouts of Rabbani and his top commander, Ahmed Shah Masood, were not immediately known. Most officers had fled during the night, as thousands of civilians and foreign aid workers evacuated the city.

A Taliban officer outside the palace, Mullah Farzullah, said rebel forces had captured the Baghram Air Force base 30 km north of Kabul, completing the encirclement of Kabul.

During the night, Taliban forces moved into the capital from all directions, climaxing a 15-day march that began with the capture of the eastern city of Jalalabad. Thefinal fall of Kabul came with little resistance.

Rebel forces swept through nearly deserted streets in pickup trucks, tanks and battered cars, all flying the white Taliban flag. Checkpoints were erected outside government buildings and at street intersections.

Shops were closed and most residents stayed indoors. But the city seemed calm after the ferocious fighting on the eastern outskirts that had rattled the city for two days.

The Taliban also took over Kabul Radio and announced that the regime of feuding government factions was over. Afghanistan is the common house of all Afghans. No group can govern Afghanistan any more, it said. The broadcast ended with verses from the Koran, the holy book of Islam.

Najibullah's execution closed a chapter that began with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Najibullah, was the former security chief who came to power in 1986, replacing the Soviet-installed Babrak Karmal whose regime sparked an Islamic resistance movement. Although seen as more moderate than Karmal, he faced no less resistance from Muslim rebels seeking to oust Kabul's communists. Following the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1989, Najibullah was left on his own to defend the capital and eastern Afghanistan. Following the withdrawal of Soviet force in 1989, Najibullah was left on his own to defend the capital and eastern Afghanistan.

Although he held back the rebels longer than expected, he was forced to resign on April 16, 1992 as opposition forces converged on the city.

Blocked at the gates of Kabul airport, he took refuge in a UN compound in Kabul, where he was sheltered until he was seized by the Taliban.

Rabbani's government, which emerged from the factional chaos after Najibullah's ouster, refrained from arresting him because he was living under the reluctant protection of the UN which had guaranteed his safety when he agreed to relinquish power.->