The observers were first deployed in the wake of the ceasefire, in 1994, between the ruling government of Tajikistan, led by Emomali Rahmonov, and the United Tajik Opposition. After the UN-sponsored armistice ended the war in 1997, the UN expanded the mission's original mandate to monitor the peace and demobilization. The mission was headquartered in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.