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| 1981, Aug. 22 |
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| Formation of an alliance among five Afghan resistance groups who became known as mujahidin. | 1 |
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| 1986, Nov. 20 |
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| Resignation of Babrak Karmal as president. His replacement was Najib Ahmadzai, known as Najibullah, the secretary-general of the Communist Party. | 2 |
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| 1988, April 8 |
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| In an international agreement involving the U.S., the USSR, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, the signatories pledged that Afghanistan would become a nonaligned country whose neutral status would be guaranteed by the U.S. and the USSR. | 3 |
| Fighting continued in the countryside between the leftist government and the U.S.-supplied guerrillas. | 4 |
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| 1989, Feb. 15 |
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| Completion of the Soviet military withdrawal, which had begun in May. | 5 |
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| 1991, Sept. 13 |
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| Agreement by the U.S. and the USSR to halt all shipments of arms to the combatants in the civil war. | 6 |
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| 1992, April 16 |
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| Resignation of Pres. Najibullah, who was forced out of office by an alliance of rebel leaders and disaffected army officers. Rebel forces later occupied Kabul without resistance (April 22–24). An interim government took power until Burhanuddin Rabbani was elected president (June 28) by a supreme council of rebel leaders. An electoral assembly confirmed his appointment (Dec. 30), but opponents charged that the election had been rigged. | 7 |
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| 1993, June 17 |
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| Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of the mujahidin, became prime minister. His first step was the announcement of a program to unite and pacify the countryside, which was effectively split into three regions: the Tajik and Uzbek north, controlled by Gen. Abdul Dostam; the south and east (including Kabul), in the hands of Pashtun tribesmen; and the west, lying within the Iranian sphere of influence. | 8 |
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| 1994, Jan |
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| A series of bombing raids was launched against government forces in Kabul in an attempt to oust the president, Burhanuddin Rabbani. | 9 |
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| 1995, Feb. 22 |
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| The peace efforts in Afghanistan led by the UN lagged when the Afghan president Rabbini refused to relinquish power to an interim council. | 10 |
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| Sept. 5 |
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| The conservative Muslim Taliban militia captured the important city of Herat in a newly launched oppositional offensive. | 11 |
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