Soviet tanks roll into Afghanistan

[Asid]

Soviet tanks roll into Afghanistan prompting the 9 year Soviet–Afghan War

December 24 1979



The Soviet intervention

The Soviet–Afghan War lasted over nine years from December 24, 1979 to February 1989. Part of the Cold War, it was fought between Soviet-led Afghan forces against multi-national insurgent groups called the Mujahideen, mostly composed of two alliances – the Peshawar Seven and the Tehran Eight. The Peshawar Seven insurgents received military training in neighboring Pakistan and China, as well as weapons and billions of dollars from the United States, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and other countries. The Shia groups of the Tehran Eight alliance received support from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Early in the rule of the PDPA government, the Maoist Afghanistan Liberation Organization also played a significant role in opposition, but its major force was defeated by late 1979, prior to the Soviet intervention. The decade-long war resulted in the death of 850,000–1.5 million civilians as well as causing millions of Afghans to flee the country, mostly to Pakistan and Iran.


Soviet ground forces in action while conducting an offensive operation against the Islamist resistance, the Mujahideen.

By mid 1987 the Soviet Union announced it would start withdrawing its forces. The arrival of Mikhail Gorbachev on the scene in 1985 and his 'new thinking' on foreign and domestic policy was probably the most important factor in the Soviets' decision to leave. The final troop withdrawal started on May 15, 1988, and ended on February 15, 1989. Due to the interminable nature of the war, the conflict in Afghanistan has sometimes been referred to as the "Soviet Union's Vietnam War" or the "Bear Trap" by the Western media.


Mujahideen fighters in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan in 1987

The long-term impact of the invasion and subsequent war was profound. First, the Soviets never recovered from the public relations and financial losses, which significantly contributed to the fall of the Soviet empire in 1991. Secondly, the war created a breeding ground for terrorism and the rise of Osama bin Laden.

Read more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan_War