 According to the writings of Nabi Azimi, who at the time was a high ranking governor, the fighting began on 31 May 1992 when 4 members of Hezb-i Wahdat's leadership were assassinated near the Kabul Silo.Those killed were Karimi, Sayyid Isma'il Hosseini, Chaman Ali Abuzar and Vaseegh, the first 3 being members of the party's central committee.Following this the car of Haji Shir Alam, a top Ittehad-e Islami commander was stopped near Pol-e Sorkh, and although Alem escaped, one of the passengers was killed.