Soviet–Afghan War

The Soviet–Afghan War took place in Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. It marked the beginning of the 47-year-long Afghan conflict. The Soviet Union and the Communist-led Afghan military fought against the rebelling Afghan mujahideen. The mujahideen received support from various countries and groups. Most of their outside help came from Pakistan, the United States (as part of Operation Cyclone), the United Kingdom, China, Iran, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. A large number of foreign fighters, known as the Afghan Arabs, also joined them. American and British involvement on the side of the mujahideen escalated the Cold War and ended a short period of relaxed Soviet Union–United States relations.

Fighting took place throughout the 1980s, mostly in the countryside, because most of the country's cities remained under Soviet control. The conflict resulted in the deaths of one to three million Afghans, and millions more fled from the country as refugees. Most of these displaced Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan and in Iran. The decade-long fighting caused great destruction across Afghanistan. Scholars have cited it as a significant factor contributing to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, which is why the conflict is sometimes called "the Soviet Union's Vietnam."

A violent uprising broke out in Herat in March 1979. The ruling People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) could not put down the uprising on its own, so it asked the Soviet Union for urgent military help. Soviet premier Alexei Kosygin did not send troops. In one call, he advised Afghan prime minister Nur Muhammad Taraki to use local industrial workers in the province. Soviet leaders debated the matter widely. Some wanted to make sure Afghanistan remained a socialist state, while others worried that the unrest would grow. In the end, they agreed to send military aid, but not troops.

The conflict began when the Soviet military, under the command of Leonid Brezhnev, moved into Afghanistan to support the Afghan government that had been put in place during Operation Storm-333. The Muslim world and the Western Bloc called this an invasion, while the Eastern Bloc said it was a legal intervention. Even so, the international community soon placed many sanctions and embargoes on the Soviet Union. Soviet troops controlled Afghanistan's major cities and main roads. The mujahideen fought in small guerrilla groups across the countryside, which made up about 80% of the country and had rugged, mountainous land. The Soviets also laid millions of landmines and used their air power against both the resistance and civilians. They destroyed villages and vital irrigation ditches to deny the mujahideen safe places to hide, using a tactic called scorched earth.

The Soviet government first planned to secure Afghanistan's towns and roads quickly and withdraw its forces within a year. However, Afghan guerrillas fought fiercely, and the mountain terrain caused many difficulties. By the mid-1980s, about 115,000 Soviet troops were in Afghanistan, and the fighting grew more intense. The war slowly became very costly for the Soviet Union. By mid-1987, the reformist Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, announced a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan. On 15 February 1989, the last Soviet military column crossed into the Uzbek SSR. The PDPA government kept fighting with continued Soviet support, and the conflict became the first Afghan Civil War (1989–1992). After the Soviet Union dissolved in December 1991, support for the government stopped. The mujahideen overthrew it in 1992, which started a second Afghan Civil War (1992–1996).

For other conflicts involving the Soviet Union and Afghanistan, see Soviet–Afghan War (disambiguation).

Naming

In Afghanistan, people usually call the war the Soviet war in Afghanistan. In Pashto, it is written as Pə Afğānistān ke də Šurawi Jang, and in Dari as Jang-i Šūrawī dar Afğānistān. The romanized spelling uses letters that English speakers can read.

In Russia and other former Soviet countries, the war is usually called the Afghan war. The name is written as "Афганская война" in Russian, "Війна в Афганістані" in Ukrainian, "Афганская вайна" in Belarusian, and Afgʻon urushi in Uzbek. People also sometimes just say "Afgan," which means the war, much like the Vietnam War is often called "Vietnam" or "'Nam" in the United States. It is also known as the Afghan Jihad, especially by non-Afghan volunteers who fought with the Mujahideen.

Background

In the 1800s, the British Empire feared that the Russian Empire would invade Afghanistan and threaten the British colonies in India. This rivalry was called the "Great Game." After Afghanistan gained full independence from Britain in 1919, its king, Amanullah Khan, built friendly ties with Russia, which was then under Bolshevik control. The Soviet Union gave Afghanistan economic aid and military help, including training centers and weapons. Over time, the Soviets also took an interest in Afghanistan's energy resources. In 1947, Afghanistan's prime minister, Mohammad Daoud Khan, rejected the Durand Line, the border that Pakistan had inherited from British India. Daoud later took power in 1973 in a bloodless coup, and his government began to fight against Pakistan through proxy warring. The Soviet Union supported Daoud's actions, but Daoud later reduced his reliance on the Soviets.

In 1978, the Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) overthrew Daoud and executed him, and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was formed. The new government, led by Nur Muhammad Taraki, used harsh methods against its opponents, and thousands of people were executed. Many Afghans rose up in rebellion, and the Afghan Army began to break apart. In September 1979, Hafizullah Amin seized power and had Taraki arrested and killed. The Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev had warned against full Soviet involvement, and Pakistani officials and the United States began considering ways to support the rebels. In July 1979, President Carter approved a small amount of non-military aid to the Afghan opposition.

Soviet deployment, 1979

Further information: History of Afghanistan (1978–1992)

The Amin government had signed a treaty in December 1978 that let it call on Soviet forces, and it asked for Soviet troops many times in 1979. It wanted help with security and with the fight against the mujahideen ("Those engaged in jihad") rebels. After rioting mobs killed Soviet technicians in Herat, the Soviet government sold several Mi-24 helicopters to the Afghan military. In June 1979, the Soviet government sent tanks, BMPs, and crews to guard the government in Kabul and to secure the Bagram and Shindand air bases. In July, an airborne battalion arrived at Bagram without combat gear, disguised as technical specialists, to serve as personal bodyguards for General Secretary Taraki. Leaders such as Alexei Kosygin and Andrei Gromyko opposed intervention, and Kosygin warned that Parcham leaders were being killed under Taraki and Amin. Soviet leaders believed that Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin's actions, including his takeover from Taraki, had destabilized Afghanistan. A special commission was set up, made up of KGB chairman Yuri Andropov, Boris Ponomarev from the Central Committee, and Dmitry Ustinov, the Minister of Defence.

At first, Moscow did not want to send troops, but the situation worsened through 1979 and its view changed. Some reasons given later included fears from the Iranian Revolution, worries about American embassy in Kabul contacts, and worsening ties with the United States after NATO's two-track missile deployment decision and the failure of Congress to approve the SALT II treaty, which made détente seem "already effectively dead." Soviet leaders also thought Amin's government had lost support across Afghanistan, and in the fall of 1979 a battalion of Central Asian troops was secretly sent to Kabul and then moved to the Tajbeg Palace. Leonid Brezhnev was undecided, while Andrei Gromyko, Yuri Andropov, and Dmitry Ustinov pushed hardest for an invasion. They feared a radical Islamist regime could spread into Soviet Central Asia, and they planned a short mission to replace Amin with Babrak Karmal. Marshal Nikolai Ogarkov warned of a long guerrilla war, but his concerns were set aside, and information from Narkomindel diplomats and KGB officers in Afghanistan rarely reached the decision-makers.

Soviet invasion and palace coup

Main article: Operation Baikal-79

On 25 December 1979, the Soviet 40th Army crossed into Afghanistan, claiming to bring "international aid" to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Soviet Defence Minister Dmitry Ustinov had ordered the crossing, and Soviet troops reached Kabul International Airport on 27 December. That night, about 700 Soviet troops, some dressed in Afghan uniforms and including KGB and GRU special forces officers, took over major government, military and media buildings in Kabul. Their main target was the Tajbeg Palace, where Afghan leader Hafizullah Amin was assassinated. By the morning of 28 December, the operation was complete. The Soviet military then announced on Radio Kabul that Afghanistan had been "liberated" from Amin's rule, and Babrak Karmal was installed as head of government. Soviet forces in the country grew to over 100,000 personnel.

The invasion shocked many countries. On 9 January 1980, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 462, and on 15 January the UN General Assembly voted 104–18 to protest the Soviet intervention. In the United States, President Carter withdrew the SALT-II treaty from consideration in the Senate, placed a trade embargo on the Soviet Union, and led a 66-nation boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. China also condemned the invasion, and Deng Xiaoping praised the "heroic resistance" of the Afghan people. Many Afghans opposed the Soviet presence, and fighting spread across the country. Soviet forces struggled to bring calm, and the United States, Saudi Arabia and China together gave the Afghan fighters between $6 billion and $12 billion in military aid.

Soviet occupation, 1980–1985

See also: Panjshir offensives

The Soviets occupied the cities and main roads, while the Afghan mujahideen split into small groups and fought a guerrilla war in the mountains. Almost 80 percent of the country was outside government control. Soviet troops were placed in key areas, such as the road from Termez to Kabul, and kept a strong presence in the west to counter Iranian influence. Some areas, like Nuristan and Hazarajat, were almost untouched by the fighting. Nine Soviet offensives into the Panjshir Valley between 1980 and 1985 did not improve government control there. Fighting was also constant near Pakistan, and the cities of Herat and Kandahar were always partly controlled by the resistance.

The Soviets used three main strategies against the uprising. They attacked villages from the air and the ground to force people to leave, sent spies and bribed tribes or guerrilla leaders, and carried out military sweeps using Mil Mi-24 helicopters. They also used KHAD, the Afghan secret police, to gather information and stir up rivalries among the resistance groups. The year 1985 was the bloodiest of the war. Even though the Mujahideen suffered heavily, they kept fighting, mostly because they received thousands of new volunteers every day.

Soviet exit and change of Afghan leadership, 1985–1989

Starting in 1983, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry worked with the Soviet Union to help it leave Afghanistan. Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Yaqub Ali Khan, and Khurshid Kasuri led these efforts. On 20 July 1987, the withdrawal of Soviet troops was announced. The Soviet Union first handed most of the fighting to Afghan forces, so they could operate without Soviet help. Under Soviet guidance, the Afghan army was built up to an official strength of 302,000 in 1986, but many soldiers deserted. The government of President Karmal, a puppet state, was weak, and Moscow later removed him from leadership. In May 1986, Mohammad Najibullah, a former chief of the Afghan secret police (KHAD), became General Secretary. He launched a "National Reconciliation" program in 1987, and a new constitution was passed that year. Parliamentary elections were held in 1988, the first in Afghanistan in 19 years.

Main article: Geneva Accords (1988)

In 1988, the Geneva Accords were signed between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The two countries agreed not to interfere in each other's territory, and Afghan refugees in Pakistan could return home if they chose. The two superpowers agreed to stop interfering in Afghanistan, which included a Soviet withdrawal. The United Nations set up a special mission to oversee the process.

Main article: Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan

The new leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 was likely an important reason the Soviets chose to leave. Gorbachev wanted to ease tensions with the West and fix the Soviet economy. The first part of the Soviet troops left between May and August 1988. The withdrawal was paused on 5 November 1988 because of attacks on Soviet troops, and the second part left between 15 November 1988 and 15 February 1989. The last Soviet troops departed on schedule on 15 February 1989. One of the last operations, "Typhoon," began on 23 January 1989 against the forces of Ahmad Shah Massoud, breaking an agreement with him. After the Soviets left, Afghan government forces were left fighting alone, and the war continued.

Main article: Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)

After Soviet troops left in 1989, the government of Mohammad Najibullah stayed in power until 15 April 1992. On that day, Najibullah stepped down as Mujahideen guerrilla forces moved into Kabul during the first Afghan civil war. He tried to fly to India under U.N. protection, but he was stopped from leaving at the airport. He then took shelter at a United Nations compound in Kabul.

After a violent, four-year power struggle between the groups that had opposed Najibullah, the Taliban took Kabul. On 26 September 1996, they stormed the U.N. compound. Najibullah was later killed.

Aerial engagements

See also: List of Soviet aircraft losses during the Soviet–Afghan War

Main article: Spillover of Soviet - Afghan war in Pakistan

Pakistan Air Force F-16 jets shot down ten Soviet aircraft that had flown into Pakistani airspace. The Soviet records confirmed only five of these losses. Some sources show that the Pakistan Air Force shot down at least a dozen more, but these were never officially recognized, because they happened over Afghanistan, and admitting them would have meant that Afghan airspace had been entered. In all, the F-16s downed several MiG-23s, Su-22s, a Su-25, and an An-24, while losing only one F-16.

The portable Stinger surface-to-air missile, introduced in September 1986, is still debated as a turning point in the war. Many Western military analysts credited it with a kill ratio of about 70% and with most of the over 350 Soviet or Afghan government planes and helicopters shot down in the last two years of the war. Some analysts called this the "Stinger effect." Congressman Charlie Wilson claimed that the Mujahideen never won a set piece battle before the Stinger, and never lost one after it arrived. However, these figures came from Mujahideen reports of unknown reliability, and many Russian military analysts downplay the Stinger's impact. Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev decided to withdraw from Afghanistan a year before the Mujahideen fired their first Stingers, so the decision was driven by U.S. sanctions rather than military losses.

War crimes

Foreign involvement

Main article: Foreign involvement in the Soviet–Afghan War

The Afghan mujahideen were backed mainly by Pakistan, the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. This made the war a Cold War proxy war. Among the countries that supported the mujahideen, the United States, through Operation Cyclone, and Saudi Arabia gave the most money. However, private donors and religious charities across the Muslim world, especially in the Persian Gulf, raised far more money for the Afghan rebels than any government. Jason Burke writes that "as little as 25 per cent of the money for the Afghan jihad was actually supplied directly by states." Saudi Arabia matched the United States' public funding dollar for dollar. Its private donations reached about $20 million per month at their peak.

The United Kingdom played a more direct role in the fighting, through MI6 and the Special Air Service, supporting resistance groups in practical ways. Egypt and China also supported the mujahideen. Iran supported only the Shia mujahideen, including the Persian-speaking Shia Hazara groups, and did so in a limited way. One of these groups was the Tehran Eight, a political union of Afghan Shia. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) supplied them mostly, but Iran's support for the Hazaras still made it harder to build a united mujahideen front.

Spillover

Main article: Raids inside the Soviet Union during the Soviet–Afghan War

Main article: Spillover of the Soviet–Afghan War in Pakistan

Main article: Badaber uprising

Main article: 1982 Harmak incident

The Mujahideen began raids into the Soviet Union in the spring of 1985. Their goal was to stir up unrest and rebellion among the Islamic populations there. The Director of CIA William Casey and Britain's MI6 encouraged Mujahideen fighters to carry out sabotage raids, according to Robert Gates, Casey's executive assistant, and Mohammed Yousef, a Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) brigadier general who led Afghan operations. The war also spilled into Pakistan. Soviet aircraft entered Pakistani airspace several times, and Pakistan Air Force F-16 jets shot down Soviet aircraft that had entered its territory. Soviet records confirmed fewer kills than Pakistan's count, including some Su-22, Su-25, An-26, and Mi-8 aircraft. Some sources say more aircraft were shot down, but those kills were not officially acknowledged because they happened over Afghanistan.

The Soviet Union and Afghanistan also used other ways to pressure Pakistan. The KhAD-KGB campaign was a joint effort by Afghanistan's KhAD and the Soviet KGB. It used spy rings, terror attacks, hijackings, killings, and propaganda to discourage Pakistan from supporting the Afghan Mujahideen. Other events also happened on the border. On 2 April 1986, a commando brigade of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan landed by accident inside Pakistan near Miram Shah instead of at Zhawar during the Second Battle of Zhawar. The force was surrounded, and 120 soldiers were taken prisoner along with six Mi-8 helicopters. In April 1985, Soviet and Afghan prisoners of war held at the Badaber fortress near Peshawar tried to escape in an armed rebellion. They fought the Afghan Mujahideen, the Jamiat-e Islami party, and the Pakistani XI Corps, which was supported by American CIA advisors. The rebellion was stopped. In 1982, Soviet forces accidentally entered Iran and destroyed an asphalt factory there. Iranian forces attacked them with tanks and aircraft, destroying two Soviet Mi-8 helicopters.

Impact

Between December 1979 and February 1989, 620,000 soldiers served in Afghanistan, though only 80,000 to 104,000 were there at any one time. They came from the army, the KGB and its border troops, MVD Internal Troops, and the police. Official figures record 14,453 Soviet deaths, and many more soldiers fell sick, often from hepatitis and typhoid fever. Soviet losses also included 451 aircraft, among them 333 helicopters, 147 tanks, 1,314 IFV/APCs, and 433 artillery guns and mortars. A CIA report estimated that the war cost the Soviet military 18 billion rubles from 1979 to 1986. The war caused the deaths of approximately 3,000,000 Afghans, and estimates of Afghan civilian deaths range from 562,000 to 2,000,000.

Main article: Atrocity crimes in the Soviet–Afghan War

The Geneva Accords of 1988 led to the Soviet withdrawal in early 1989, but they did not settle how Afghanistan would be governed afterwards, and the country was left in ruins. It had already been one of the world's poorest countries before the war. Later, warlords and the Taliban rose to power amid the disorder, forests were destroyed, pistachio trees were uprooted, and opium farming spread. Some Shias and refugees were excluded from the government plans. The war also changed society. Guns, drugs, and terrorism became part of life, and militarization led to heavily armed police and civil defense groups. Pashtuns, who had dominated since the Durrani Empire was founded in 1747, lost influence to Tajiks, Uzbeks, and Hazaras.

Main articles: Afghan refugees and Afghans in Pakistan

The war made 5.5 million Afghans refugees, about a third of the country's pre-war population, who fled to Pakistan or Iran. By 1988, 3.3 million were housed in Pakistan, including about 100,000 in Peshawar and more than two million in other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while close to two million Afghans were living in Iran. Some refugees also reached North America, the European Union, and Australia. The photo of Sharbat Gula on the cover of National Geographic in 1985 became a symbol of both the conflict and the refugee crisis.

Aftermath

Main article: Consequences and legacy of the Soviet-Afghan War

Sources consistently describe the Soviet–Afghan War as a political defeat for the Soviet Union. Some sources also call it a military defeat for the Soviets. Modern writers are divided. Other sources also call it a political defeat for the Soviets, but describe the war as a military draw.

The war has typically been called the "Soviet Vietnam." Despite this comparison, the result was much worse for Afghanistan than a Soviet Vietnam would have been. The United States had survived Vietnam, but the Soviets did not survive Afghanistan.

Media and popular culture

In Afghanistan, war rugs were a popular kind of carpet design. They were woven by people who suffered during the war.

Perception in Afghanistan

Main article: Consequences and legacy of the Soviet-Afghan War § Afghanistan

The war has left a controversial legacy for Afghan people. Many Afghans see it as a victory over the Soviets and a source of pride. The Mujahideen Victory Day is an annual holiday in Afghanistan on 28 April, held to remember the overthrow of the Soviet-backed government in 1992. However, the day is controversial among Afghans. Some honor the fighters and the sacrifices the Mujahideen made to defeat a major power. Others see the victory as the start of the harsh 1990s civil war, which divided the country politically and ethnically.

Perception in the former Soviet Union

Main article: Consequences and legacy of the Soviet-Afghan War § Legacy

The war left a long legacy in the former Soviet Union and after it fell apart. Along with many losses, it brought physical disabilities and widespread drug addiction across the USSR.

Each year on 15 February, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus remember the Soviet soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan and in other places around the world. Veterans of the war are often called афганцы, Afgantsy, in Russian.