Portal:Afghanistan

The Soviet–Afghan War was a protracted armed conflict fought in the Soviet-controlled Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) from 1979 to 1989. The war was a major conflict of the Cold War as it saw extensive fighting between the DRA, the Soviet Union and allied paramilitary groups against the Afghan mujahideen and their allied foreign fighters. While the mujahideen were backed by various countries and organizations, the majority of their support came from Pakistan, the United States (as part of Operation Cyclone), the United Kingdom, China, Iran, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The involvement of the foreign powers made the war a proxy war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Combat took place throughout the 1980s, mostly in the Afghan countryside. The war resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000,000 Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees; most externally displaced Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan and in Iran. Approximately 6.5% to 11.5% of Afghanistan's erstwhile population of 13.5 million people (per the 1979 census) is estimated to have been killed over the course of the conflict. The Soviet–Afghan War caused grave destruction throughout Afghanistan and has also been cited by scholars as a significant factor that contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, formally ending the Cold War.

The genesis of the conflict started in March 1979, when the leadership of the Soviet Union were faced with the worsening situation. There had been a violent uprising in Herat, where a number of Soviet citizens who had been sent as military advisers were executed with the situation not being adequately contained by the PDPA. The PDPA were aware that they were not able to subdue the uprising by themselves and asked for urgent Soviet military assistance to help quell the situation. They repeatedly asked and in 1979 there were over 20 request sent. In one telephone call between Afghan Prime Minister Taraki and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin advice is given to use local industrial workers in the Herat province as there would not be troops sent, apparently on the belief that these workers would be supporters of the Afghan Soviet Government. This was discussed further in the Soviet Union with a wide range of views both wanting to ensure that Afghanistan remained Communist, and those concerned that the war would escalate. Eventually, a compromise was reached to sent military aid, but not troops. (Full article...)

• ... that background research for Dujanah included interviews with Muslim apostates and a Scottish veteran of Afghanistan?
• ... that University of Nebraska alumnus M. Khalid Roashan helped draft the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan?
• ... that artefacts from
  the King of Afghanistan
  in 1961, include a "remarkable" disc displaying "hybrid Greek and Oriental imagery"?
• ... that the ruined stronghold of Alexandria Ariana, a city founded by Alexander the Great, may lie underneath the citadel of Herat in present-day Afghanistan?
• ... that after travelling around 8,300 km (5,200 mi) from Afghanistan to Ireland,
  2022 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup
  ?