 Massoud withdrew his troops from the north of Kabul, since he did not intend to march into Kabul without having formed a government before which would be acceptable for all especially for the civilian population since that would have harbored the danger of a repetition of the 1992–1994 period.Approximately 2,000 Taliban fighters in Kunduz were surrounded by forces of Massoud.These Taliban forces were able to survive when they allied with one of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf's former Ittihad-i Islami commanders.