Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan

Soviet–Afghan War
Part of the Wars in Afghanistan and the Cold War
Mujahideen fighters in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan in 1987
Date December 24, 1979 – February 15, 1989 (9 years, 1 month, 3 weeks and 1 day) Location Afghanistan Result Soviet failure to quell the Afghan mujahideen insurgency Geneva Accord (1988) Withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan Continuation of the Afghan Civil War
Belligerents
Soviet Union Democratic Republic of Afghanistan	Sunni Mujahideen: Jamiat-e Islami Shura-e Nazar Gulbuddin faction Maktab al-Khadamat Khalis faction Ittehad i-Islami IRM NLF NIFA Supported by:  Pakistan United States  Saudi Arabia  China  West Germany  United Kingdom Shia Mujahedeen: Harakat i-Islami Afghan Hezbollah Nasr Party (IVOA) COIRGA Shura Party IRM UOIF Raad Party Supported by:  Iran Maoist factions: ALO SAMA AMFFF
Commanders and leaders
Leonid Brezhnev Yuri Andropov Konstantin Chernenko Mikhail Gorbachev Dmitriy Ustinov Sergei Sokolov Dmitriy Yazov Valentin Varennikov Igor Rodionov Boris Gromov Babrak Karmal Mohammad Najibullah Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdul Qadir Shahnawaz Tanai Mohammed Rafie	Ahmad Shah Massoud Abdul Haq Abdullah Azzam Ismail Khan Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Jalaluddin Haqqani Mohammad Nabi Naqib Alikozai Abdul Rahim Wardak Fazal Haq Mujahid Burhanuddin Rabbani Michael G. Vickers Muhammad Asif Muhsini Assef Kandahari Sayeed Ali Begeshti Mosbah Sade Mulavi Dawood  (AMFFF)
Strength
Soviet forces: 620,000 total 115,000 at peak Afghan forces: 55,000	Mujahideen: 200,000–250,000
Casualties and losses
Soviet forces: 14,453 killed (total) 9,500 killed in combat 4,000 died from wounds 1,000 died from disease and accidents 53,753 wounded 264 missing 451 aircraft (including 333 helicopters) 147 tanks 1,314 IFV/APCs 433 artillery guns and mortars 11,369 cargo and fuel tanker trucks Afghan forces: 18,000 killed	Mujahideen: 75,000–90,000 killed 75,000+ wounded (tentative estimate) Pakistan: 300+ killed 1 F-16 fighter jet shot down Iran: 2 AH-1J helicopters shot down Unknown number killed
Civilians (Afghan): 562,000–2,000,000 killed 5 million refugees outside Afghanistan 2 million internally displaced persons Around 3 million Afghans wounded (mostly civilians)

Sunni Mujahideen:

Shia Mujahedeen:

Supported by:

Maoist factions:

Soviet forces:

Afghan forces:

Mujahideen:

The Soviet–Afghan War lasted over nine years from December 1979 to February 1989. Insurgent groups known as the mujahideen fought against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Between 562,000–2 million civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees, mostly to Pakistan and Iran. The war is considered part of the Cold War.

Prior to the arrival of Soviet troops, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan took power after a 1978 coup, installing Nur Mohammad Taraki as president. The party initiated a series of radical modernization reforms throughout the country that were deeply unpopular, particularly among the more traditional rural population and the established traditional power structures. The government vigorously suppressed any opposition and arrested thousands, executing as many as 27,000 political prisoners. Anti-government armed groups were formed, and by April 1979 large parts of the country were in open rebellion. The government itself was highly unstable with in-party rivalry, and in September 1979 the president was deposed by followers of Hafizullah Amin, who then became president. Deteriorating relations and worsening rebellions led the Soviet government, under leader Leonid Brezhnev, to deploy the 40th Army on December 24, 1979. Arriving in the capital Kabul, they staged a coup, killing president Amin and installing Soviet loyalist Babrak Karmal from a rival faction.

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