Soviet–Afghan War

Sides

Countries today: Afghanistan and Russia

What happened

In April 1978 the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) took power in a coup, and armed revolt spread against its rule. In late December 1979 Soviet troops entered Afghanistan; on 27 December Soviet special forces stormed the Tajbeg Palace in Kabul, killed the party leader Hafizullah Amin and installed Babrak Karmal. Soviet forces, about 118,000 at their height, and the Afghan army held the main towns and roads, while mujahideen groups fought in the countryside, armed by the United States, Saudi Arabia, China, Britain and others and trained and supplied through Pakistan's military intelligence. Repeated offensives, as in the Panjshir valley, cleared ground only for a time, and some five million Afghans fled to Pakistan and Iran. In 1986 Moscow replaced Karmal with Mohammad Najibullah, and from September US-supplied Stinger missiles cut into Soviet air power. Under the Geneva Accords of April 1988 the Soviet Union withdrew; its last troops crossed into the Uzbek SSR on 15 February 1989. Najibullah's government, still armed by Moscow, fought on against the mujahideen.

Outcome: The Soviet Union withdrew all its troops by 15 February 1989 without defeating the mujahideen; the war between the Afghan government and the mujahideen went on.

Key events

Leaders

• Leonid Brezhnev · Soviet leader who sent the troops in, to 1982 · Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
• Mikhail Gorbachev · Soviet leader from 1985; withdrew the troops · Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
• Boris Gromov · Last commander of the 40th Army · Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
• Babrak Karmal · PDPA leader, 1979–1986 · Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
• Mohammad Najibullah · PDPA leader from 1986 · Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
• Ahmad Shah Massoud · Jamiat-e Islami commander in the Panjshir · Afghan mujahideen and their backers
• Burhanuddin Rabbani · Leader of Jamiat-e Islami · Afghan mujahideen and their backers
• Gulbuddin Hekmatyar · Leader of Hezb-e Islami · Afghan mujahideen and their backers
• Jalaluddin Haqqani · Mujahideen commander in Paktia and Khost · Afghan mujahideen and their backers
• Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq · President of Pakistan, whose military intelligence ran supplies to the mujahideen · Afghan mujahideen and their backers

Deaths