Pakistan reportedly is again instrumental in providing support for the Taliban offensive on the northern provinces that begins in July 1998.

As the Taliban near Mazar this time, a number of opposition commanders, including Dostum, vacate the city, and Jamiat fighters reportedly loot their own office.

The UIFSA virtually collapses.

As before, the Taliban count on defectors to clear a way into the city for them, but this time they demand guarantees that they will not be double-crossed.

Pashtun militia commanders from Balkh who have grown disillusioned with Hekmatyar agree to join forces with the Taliban and move in behind the main Hizb-i Wahdat force encamped at Qala Zaini, a walled area west of the city.

Thus surrounded, virtually the entire Hizb-i Wahdat force, estimated at between 1,500 and 3,000, is killed there or on the roads leading north and east of the city.

A smaller contingent of some 700 Hizb-i Wahdat troops flees south from the city to the mountains, and the way is opened for the main Taliban force to enter Mazar.

After capturing Mazar on August 18, Taliban troops reportedly massacre between 2,000 and 5,000 men, women and children, mostly Hazaras.

During the massacre, the Taliban forces carry out a systematic search for male members for the ethnic Hazara, Tajik, and Uzbek communities in the city.

Human Rights Watch estimates that scores, perhaps hundreds, of Hazara men and boys are summarily executed.

There are also reports that women and girls are raped and abducted during the Taliban takeover of the city.