Appendices continues...

8 August 1998

11 Iranian diplomats and a journalist are killed allegedly by the Taliban in Mazar. The attack is condemned by Tehran, which begins to mobilise troops along the Iran-Afghanistan border.

Pakistan’s requests for the release of the Iranian diplomats is ignored by the Taliban.

20 August 1998

US launches missile attacks against alleged al Qaeda camps being run in Jalalabad and Khost.

22 September 1998

Taliban envoy is expelled from Saudi Arabia due to the group’s refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden.

2 February 1999

In a meeting between the Taliban and US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, the latter hands over a letter to the Taliban demanding the extradition of Osama bin Laden.

24 December 1999

Indian Airlines flight IC-814 is hijacked by Harkat-ul-Mujahideen enroute from Kathmandu to Delhi and taken to Kandahar. The complicity of the Taliban in this incident has played a part in shaping India’s apprehensions of dealing with the Taliban.

12 October 2000

Pakistan’s civilian government led by Nawaz Sharif is overthrown in a military coup led by Pervez Musharraf.

19 January 2001

UN Security Council passes Resolution 1333 imposing sanctions and arms embargo against the Taliban only.

10 March 2001

The Buddha statues in Bamiyan are destroyed by the Taliban. This was another instance when the Taliban paid no heed to Pakistan’s requests.

9 September 2001

Ahmad Shah Massoud is killed in a suicide attack.

11 September 2001

Four American planes are hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists. Two crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, one into the Pentagon in Washington DC and the fourth meant for Washington crashes in Pennsylvania.

12 September 2001

Pervez Musharraf holds a meeting with his generals and a few key civilian cabinet ministers in Rawalpindi, where the decision to support the US in its impending attack on Afghanistan was taken.

To be continued....