It's a very long/complex story that likely
@2cents or
@Raoul could enunciate better than I.
Once the Soviets withdrew in 1989~ the Mujuhadin commanders kept poking, but the Afghan army held on until the USSR collapsed (Absolute proof that an Afghan army COULD have worked in this situation, if it had been done right). When the USSR collapsed in 1992, the 2 main Northern Alliance (or well, commanders from the Northern Militia) Dostum and Massoud moved south past Bagram to the gates of Kabul. They then started negotiating transition. Meanwhile Hekmatyar moved up from the South and invaded, wanting to become the absolute ruler/dictator of Afghanistan. Massoud and Dostum forced his hand, and basically that started years of civil war.
You had many actors, but a few stood out:
Hekmatyar - A southern warlord deeply in love with Bin Laden/Al Quaeda. Extremely repressive of women and modernity. Brutal as feck. Leader of HIG faction. Mainly funded by pakistan, the ISI, and many analysts consider it to actually be/have been an arm of the ISI. By 1994 it had essentially morphed into the Taliban and Al Quaeda. Some contend that around 1994 the ISI were fed up and simply switched sides to supporting the Taliban, but a lot of the evidence shows a tacit 'transfer' to the Taliban. Their training camps certainly became Taliban ones without conflict. Hekmatyar himself basically alligned with the Taliban post 94, though he wasn't particularly relevant for a while. Since 2001 he's been actively supporting both Taliban and Al Quaeda forces. He had no problem trying to sideline/kill other factions, and showed no loyalty to anybody except Bin Laden. He is still alive and trying to be part of the interim government now.
Massoud - a northern warlord and leader of Jamiat-e Islami. The strongest and most respected of the Mujuhadin, hailing from the North. Always hated by Hekmatyar, and especially Bin-Laden, even from the times of fighting the Soviets. He managed to build a complex network of alliances back in the war against the soviets, and despite lack of funding (The USA preferred to fund through Pakistan, who as above supported Hekmatyar) was by far the most successful of the commanders. He also had many foreign people (Mostly muslims) come to the Jihad against the soviets. Massoud was also alarmingly moderate, signing many declarations of women and human rights etc. Post Soviet Invasion he kept up the insurgency until 1992, leadng to him being at the gates of Kabul as above. He was assassinated 2 days before 9/11 by [assassins funded by] Al Quaeda/Taliban.
Dostum - Another northern Alliance commander, who fought with Massoud against the soviets, and marched with him to Kabul from the north in 92. He then withdrew after defending from Hekmatyar and basically formed his own little country in Mazar, until the Taliban came knocking. He then fought with Massoud again as part of a Northern Alliance against the Taliban; some shenanigans ensued, and he fled to Turkey. Quite moderate in attitude. All of Mazar was.
Ismail Khan - Another northern Alliance commander, who fought with Massoud against the soviets. From Herat. Captured by the Taliban but escaped in 1999. Quite a hardliner and definitely more 'warlord' than anything else. Respected but also feared.
Taliban - Basically born from HIG, funded nurtured by the ISI. The new post Hekmatyar solution for Pakistan and other Arab agencies who wanted hardliners in control. Designed to defeat and crush those like Massoud. Impossible to separate them from AQ, as it was essentially an autonomous wing of the Taliban.
.... So this Civil war raged until 1996, when the Taliban essentially took control of all of Afghanistan, with the exception of the North and Northeast which stayed under the command of Dostum and Massoud. Massoud then created the UF/United front/Northern alliance against them in resistance, which resisted against the Taliban (funded by Iran/India/etc etc. India became very important for funding later) - By 1999 Massoud and Abdul Haq looked further afield, bringing together a bigger and bigger cross factional alliance ready to stand against the Taliban. They reached out to everybody, and everybody was aware of them, from Bush to Jerusalem to Berlin. Anti Taliban sentiment within Afghanistan is reaching an all time high, even in the Pashtun tribes. The situation just needs sparked.
In early 2001 he presented to the European Parliament this alliance, whilst warning Bush about an impending major attack that year against them. He says that Taliban/Al Quaeda in Afghanistan present a bad perception of Islam. He posits that without the Pakistani support and with humanitarian aid, he can take back Afghanistan. The US were too busy appeasing Pakistan, and funding the Taliban through them.
Anyway, 2 days before 9/11 he is assassinated by Bin Laden/Taliban funded assets from Europe. Then the invasion and the situation we have now.
ps. His son and some CIA assets/ Afghani Special Forces/Other assets have kicked off a new 'United Front' against the Taliban as of 3 days ago. Yet to see if it can be at all effective. The son is not the father.
