As soon as he announced his willingness, on March 18, to resign in order to make way for a neutral interim government, Najibullah immediately lost control. As the government broke into several factions, the issue was how to carry out a transfer of power to a new government. Najibullah attempted to flee from Kabul on April 17, but was stopped by Dostum's troops, who controlled Kabul International Airport. Najibullah then took refuge at the United Nations mission where he remained until 1995. A group of Parchami generals and officials declared themselves an interim government for the purpose of handing over power to the dominant and most popular military force: Massoud.