As the armoured black Lincoln of General Abdul Rasheed Dostum sped past the rice paddies and orchards of the Salang Valley, with 20 jeeps in tow, his spokesman nodded at a crater in the road.
“That’s where Ahmed Shah Masood’s fighter planes attacked one of our convoys,” said General Mohammed Yusuf, adding that his commander had a lucky escape.
Until last spring, Gen Dostum, the ethnic Uzbek chieftain who has turned much of northern Afghanistan into his personal fiefdom, was bitterly at odds with the mainly Tajik forces headed by Mr Masood.
Since last month’s takeover of Kabul by the Taliban Islamic militia, the two northern commanders have tentatively settled their differences, to make common cause against the capital’s new masters.
Still, nothing seems fixed in the awkward triangle formed by the Uzbek general, Mr Masood and Taliban which is dominated by the Pashtun, Afghanistan’s largest ethnic group.
Experts on the region see in Gen Dostum, who holds sway from a clay fortress that looks medieval although it was built last century, the “swing factor” in the latest conflict.
The pro-Masood forces will be hard pressed to drive Taliban out of Kabul without Gen Dostum’s help. Nor can Taliban have much hope of holding on to its gains unless it is prepared to compromise with him.
The earlier enmity between the two northern commanders is still vividly highlighted by the battle debris which litters the region. The rice paddies are dotted with carcases of tanks, stripped to the last bolt.
Limping children, the victims of land mines, are a common sight in the area where the two warlords waged fierce battles for control of the Salang pass connecting northern Afghanistan to the capital.
But memories of this blood-letting were set aside last week when Gen Dostum met his Tajik rival in a steel trailer in the narrow, strategically vital thoroughfare, not far from the Salang tunnel which the Uzbek commander firmly controls.
The two warlords sketched out a plan for a broad coalition of commanders and ethnic groups, and a joint approach to Taliban.
“We have battled for 18 years, it is time for forgiveness,” said Gen Yusuf. “Should we continue until everyone is dead? We’ve fought enough.”
Since then, both Taliban and Mr Masood have expressed verbal support for a broad coalition but continued fighting.
With limited artillery attacks, Gen Dostum has made clear to Taliban that he will fully back Mr Masood unless Taliban agrees to his ceasefire offer.
Observers have been surprised that Gen Dostum came out so strongly for peace between Taliban and pro-Masood forces, who were hardly threatening him by attacking each other.
Protected by the Hindu Kush mountains, he has created a calm and relatively prosperous empire for himself called Northern Part of Afghanistan.
His frowning features and pudding-basin haircut adorn many public places. The statelet has its own flag, currency, airline and ruling party, the National Islamic Movement or Jinbush.
Most important, Gen Dostum commands Afghanistan’s strongest army and could hold the Salang pass if anyone were to attack. But he apparently reckoned that since neither Mr Masood nor Taliban could prevail without his support, his faction could barter for a significant role in any coalition government in Kabul.
“No one can solve the problems of Afghanistan without Jinbush,” Gen Dostum said last week.
But as many Afghans acknowledge, last month’s victories by Taliban showed that nobody can tackle the country’s problems without that movement either.
“We have no plans to destroy the Taliban,” said Mr Haji Mohammed Mokhakek, one of the leaders of a Shia minority which supports Gen Dostum. “They represent part of Afghanistan too.”
At least indirectly, Taliban also represents Pakistan, while Gen Dostum receives support from Russia and Uzbekistan and the Shia get backing from Iran.
All these neighbours have in recent days pressed for peace talks.
But observers believe that a coalition including Gen Dostum, Mr Masood and Taliban could be even less stable than the most recent Dostum-Masood alliance which collapsed two years ago.
Many Afghans fear that it will prove easier simply to carve up Afghanistan along the current front lines, which correspond roughly to ethnic divisions.
Only Herat, home to many Shia but under Taliban rule, is an exception - but some of Mr Masood’s aides have predicted he will attack that city soon.
Dostum supporters say the country will not be partitioned. “Nobody is talking about carving up Afghanistan,” said Gen Yusuf, the spokesman. “Here one hundred per cent of the people want Afghanistan to stay united.”
In the end, a more important factor may be what is wanted by Gen Dostum, whose name literally means “good friend”.
The Uzbek warlord seems keen to be friends with both his main enemies - but only for now.
