3 November 1994

The Taliban rescue a 30-truck Pakistani convoy to Central Asia, which was captured enroute by warlords. They subsequently take control of Kandahar province and gradually begin to capture

one Afghan province after another. Despite the initial military success of the Taliban, the ISI is sceptical of supporting the group in the beginning.

It was only by 1995 that Pakistan decided to switch their support from Hekmatyar to the Taliban.

December 1994

The first Pakistani convoy of 50 trucks carrying raw cotton from Turkmenistan arrives in Quetta via Afghanistan.

5 September 1995

Taliban capture Herat against Pakistan’s advice. This is the first major expression of Taliban’s independence from Pakistan.

6 September 1995

Pakistan embassy in Kabul sacked and burnt down.

7-13 February 1996

Pakistan President Farooq Leghari and Army Chief General Jehangir Karamat meet with Hekmatyar, Dostum, Pashtun leaders of the Jalalabad Shura

and some Hizb-e-Wahadat chiefs in Islamabad in an attempt to convince them to join the Taliban.

18 May 1996

Osama bin Laden returns to Afghanistan. He boarded a chartered flight to Jalalabad and was under the protection of the Jalalabad Shura till the area was captured by the Taliban

26 September 1996

The Taliban capture Kabul.

26 May 1997

Pakistan extends recognition to the Taliban government. However, in what would prove to be highly embarrassing for the Pakistan government, two days after Islamabad recognised the Taliban,

they were driven out of Mazar-e-Sharif.

8 October 1997 Kabul rejects transit trade agreement with Pakistan.

26 April 1998

Representatives of the Taliban and Northern Alliance met in Islamabad to work out the

modalities for an ulema conference which would be mandated to bring the Afghan conflict to an end. A breakthrough had almost been reached when the talks were derailed by the Hizb-e-Wahdat on prompting from Tehran.

28 May 1998

Pakistan conducts five successful nuclear tests as a response to India’s nuclear tests a few weeks earlier. US imposes sanctions on Pakistan as a result of these nuclear tests.

7 August 1998

Bomb blasts near US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania for which Osama bin Laden is held responsible.

To be continued......