Afghan war rug - Najibullah

This rug relates to the life and events surrounding Mohammad Najibullah (1947-1996), the President of Afghanistan from 1987 to 1992, when the Mujahideen took over Kabul. During his tenure as leader of Afghanistan, his government tried to solve the ongoing civil war without Soviet troops on the ground. The internal collapse of his government led to his ousting from power in 1992. In 1996 he was dragged behind a truck in the streets of Kabul before he was publically hanged. In this rug, Najibullah appears in the upper centre, with the red Soviet hammer and sickle on his forehead, surrounded on all sides by the Mujahideen fighters. Najibullah is depicted as a Soviet puppet, left in power after the Soviet withdrawl from Afghanistan in 1989. The rug also accurately shows tanks and jet fighters displayed USSR logos . Najibullah rugs were woven after the Taliban took over Afghanistan in the 1990s. Afghan war rugs provide an important and unique perspective on the political history of conflict in Afghanistan. War rugs were originally produced as a result of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. The rugs were woven by members of tribal groups with long traditions of carpet weaving including the Hazara, Uzbek, Turkoman and Baluch, who occupy regions on the Afghan-Iran border. Originally intended as souvenirs for the occupying Russian forces, traditional flower, bird , animal and vase motifs were replaced by those inspired by Soviet tanks, helicopters and weapons. Many were sold on to the markets in Kabul and begn to be produced for markets in Europe and the United States. War rugs have now been woven to reflect the many periods of conflict that have occured in Afghanistan; the Soviet invasion (1979-80), the civil war, leadership under Najibullah and the Mujahideen (1993-1996), Taliban rule (1996-2001) and the current 'war against terrorism' (2001- ).