The Soviet Invasion of AfghanistanLouie Romero

The InvasionIn December, 1979, Soviet Paratroopers landed in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. The country was already faced with it’s own conflict between the Afghanistan communist government, led by Hafizullah Amin and supported by the Soviet Union, and conservative Muslim guerilla factions known as the Mujahideen who were supported by the United States. The real objective of the Soviet invasion was to overthrow the President Hafizullah Amin.

Shortly after the some 30,000 Soviet troops invaded, Amin was executed along with members of his family for crimes against the people of Afghanistan

The Soviet troops seized the Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan

Shortly after Amin was overthrown and the capital was seized, 100,000 Soviet troops had quickly gained control of cities and largely populated areas

The Mujahideen used their knowledge of the country’s geography and traveled through the mountainous countryside

The Soviet troops tried multiple ways of stopping the Mujahideen, but were unsuccessful in their attempts

The Soviets also attempted to abolish all civilian support of the Mujahideen, bombing rural areas where the support was strongest

1980, Babrak Karmal is named Prime Minister of Afghanistan backed with strong Soviet support

Unpopular with the people of Afghanistan, violent public actions were taken

By the year 1982, violent bombings of rural areas resulted in 4.3 million Afghans fleeing to neighboring countries

By 1986 the Mujahideen gained enough support from the US, and was being supplied with defense weapons to take down Soviet gunships and bombers

In 1986 Karmal had resigned as prime minister and Mohammad Najibullah became leader of the Soviet backed leadership

In February 1988, President Mikhail Gorbachev announced that the USSR troops would withdrawal from Afghanistan

Finally in 1992, after 14 years of rule by the People’s Democratic Party, Najibullah's government fell, along with the city of Kabul

The result of the war left Afghanistan with economic, political, and ecological problems

Over 1 million Afghan civilians died and more than 5 million became refugees

15,000 Soviet troops were killed and over 37,000 were injured

The economic development of Afghanistan was put to a halt, over 5 million mines were destroyed

The damaged mines will put human and animal life at risk for years to come

Afghanistan became politically divided for years after the war These opposing political groups resulted in the rise of the

Taliban

Works Cited

"Afghanistan War." Fact Monster: Online Almanac, Dictionary, Encyclopedia, and

Homework Help. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

"Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan (1979)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia

Britannica, n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.

"TIMELINE." Afghanistan Timeline. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2013.