By January 1995, the Taliban control five of 30 provinces; by February, nine.

Rabbani sends a delegation to Qandahar.

Rabbani's Afghan government believes that the Taliban receive active support from Pakistan's ISI and by some elements of Pakistan's powerful military.

Pakistan, for its part, fears that Rabbani's exclusively non-Pashtun government will lead Afghanistan's Pashtuns to revive the demand for Pashtunistan.

Eventually, the Taliban's remarkable military successes, and economic considerations, lead to Pakistan's policy change toward its support for the Taliban.

The Taliban, either acting independently or with encouragement from Pakistan, begin to move on Kabul.

The mujahedin parties in the southern Pashtun areas disintegrate in the face of Pakistani aid to, and overwhelming public support of, the Taliban.

Most armed groups either flee or join the Taliban.

In late January 1995, the Taliban engage the rear forces of Hekmatyar's besieging army south of Kabul.

By mid-February, they occupy Hekmatyar's main base in Charasyrab, Logar province.

Hekmatyar, who has lost hundreds of men and several tanks, flees without a fight.

Ahmad Massoud, Rabbani's Defense Minister, moves his front lines into Hekmatyar's deserted positions, then moves back slightly after negotiating an agreement with the Taliban.

Massoud now controls all of Kabul save for a Shi'a neighborhood dominated by Hizb-I Whadat.

Taliban's ulema leadership, insisting that they alone will effect disarmament and oversee security in Kabul, refuses to cooperate with any of the existing parties, denouncing them as criminal.

Following its defeat by Taliban forces in February 1995, Hizb ceases to be a major military power.

The Taliban and Massoud crush the Iranian supported Shi'a militia in South Kabul.

Massoud, after successfully pushing the Taliban out of the Kabul area in March, secures the capital from rocket attacks for the first time in years.

Under the new apparent security of the Rabbani-Massoud government, hundreds of thousands of displaced people return to Kabul.

Due to resign the previous day, Rabbani, on February 22, announces his decision to delay his resignation until 21 March, stating he will not step down unless the Taliban are included in the interim administration.

Talks stall, however, when the Taliban set three conditions for participation: only "good Muslims" may participate in the interim administration, all 30 provinces must be represented, and Kabul must be policed by a "neutral force" under Taliban control.

The talks are unsuccessful, and a stalemate ensues between the Kabul government and the Taliban.

International efforts to reach a comprehensive peace settlement meet with little success.

The swift rise of the Taliban raises concerns of ethnic warfare or an upsurge of Islamic fundamentalism.