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Chronology of the Taliban militia's rise to power in Afghanistan

KABUL, Dec 20 (AFP) - Here is a chronology of the Taliban militia's growth in Afghanistan.

1978-1989
Mujahideen war against Soviet occupation

1989-1992
War between the Soviet-backed regime of Mohammad Najibullah and the mujahideen factions

1992-1994
Najibullah ousted. Fighting erupts between President Burhanuddin Rabbani and various mujahideen groups divided along ethnic lines. Large areas of Kabul reduced to rubble.

1994
Oct Taliban (Islamic students) movement led by little-known Mulla Mohammad Omar emerges.

Nov Taliban seize control of southern Kandahar city, vow to oust the "criminal" mujahideen and introduce "true" Islamic rule. Within three weeks they capture Lashkargarh and Helmand provinces with few casualties.

1995
Feb Taliban control nine of 30 provinces. Rabbani sends delegation.

March-Sept Taliban reach outskirts of Kabul, capture western province of Herat. They are suddenly seen as more than just another mujahideen faction.

1996
May Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden, a veteran of the Afghan war against the Soviets, returns to live in Jalalabad, eastern Afghanistan.

Aug Bin Laden declares jihad against the United States to push US forces out of the Middle East and Islam's holy sites.

Sept Rabbani's defence minister Ahmad Shah Masood pulls out of Kabul on the 26th and Taliban tanks roll in a day later. Najibullah is dragged from the UN compound, tortured and hanged from a traffic post.

Oct Taliban enforce their puritanical brand of Sharia law in once-liberal Kabul. Girls' schools are closed, women are forced out of work, television and music are banned, western influences are shunned.

1997
April Bin Laden is moved to the southern Taliban stronghold of Kandahar after Saudi Arabia protests against his activities.

May Taliban take the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Pakistan recognises Taliban regime. On the 27th some 2,000 Talib troops are massacred by ethnic Hazaras and the militia is pushed out of Mazar-i-sharif.

1998
July Taliban launch summer offensive resulting in sweeping victories against commanders of ethnic Hazaras, Uzbeks and Turkmen.

Aug UN ceasefire calls ignored. Taliban take northern cities of Sherbeghan and Mazar-i-Sharif where between 3,000 and 8,000 Hazaras are massacred.

US attacks bin Laden's alleged terrorist bases in retaliation for the bombings of two US embassies in East Africa. UN and most foreigners evacuate.

Sept Taliban take Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.

Oct UN maintains recognition of Rabbani government although the Taliban control 80 percent of the country.

1999
March UN returns after eight-month absence. UN sponsored peace talks fail.

July US imposes trade sanctions against the Taliban for harbouring bin Laden. Fighting erupts with the summer.

Aug-Nov 60,000 people become stranded in the northern Panshir valley under opposition commander Ahmad Shah Masood's protection.

Nov UN aviation and financial sanctions imposed after Taliban refuse to extradite bin Laden. Violent protests erupt against the UN.

2000
Jan Taliban recognise the rebel government in Chechnya, angering Russia.

March Peace talks begin in Saudi Arabia but no breakthrough is achieved.

May Russia says it is ready to bomb suspected terrorist camps in Afghanistan. Russia and the United States call on the Taliban to hand over bin Laden and dismantle "terrorist" camps.

July-Nov Fighting erupts again, Masood clings to 10 percent of the country despite Taliban victories in the north.

Oct Washington warns it will attack bin Laden again if he is found to have organised a bomb attack against the USS Cole in Yemen.

Nov UN leaves seat with Rabbani's Islamic State of Afghanistan. Taliban and opposition agree to UN-backed peace talks.

Dec 7 US and Russia ask the UN Security Council to strengthen sanctions.

Dec 10-19 UN foreign staff withdrawn amid fears of reprisals.

Dec 19 UN Security Council tightens sanctions, imposing an arms embargo as well as orders for the closing of the group's offices abroad, and forbids Taliban officials to leave Afghanistan.