In+Mother+Russia...

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 * December 27, 1979 – February 15, 1989 **



BACKGROUND After the Russian Revolution, as early as 1919, the Soviet government gave Afghanistan aid in the form of a million gold rubles , small arms , ammunition, and a few aircraft to support the Afghan resistance to the British. In 1924, the Soviets again gave military aid to Afghanistan, receiving small arms, aircraft and Red Army military training in the Soviet Union for Afghan Army officers. Soviet-Afghan military cooperation began on a regular basis in 1956, when both countries signed another agreement. The Soviet Minister of Defense was now responsible for training all Afghan military officers. During its first 18 months of rule, the Soviets set forth changes in marriage customs and land reform that were not received well by a population deeply immersed in tradition and Islam. By 1978, a rebellion started with rebels, called the mujahideen, attacking the local military garrison in the Nuristan region of eastern Afghanistan and soon civil war spread throughout the country. The Afghan government requested Soviet troops to provide security and to assist in the fight against the mujahideen rebels. The anti-communist rebels also garnered support from the United States.

**__<span style="color: rgb(27, 255, 0);">July 3, 1979: __** <span class="wiki_link_ext">US President <span class="wiki_link_ext">Jimmy Carter signed an executive order authorizing the CIA to conduct <span class="wiki_link_ext">covert <span class="wiki_link_ext">propaganda operations against the communist regime. <span style="color: rgb(203, 178, 32); background-color: rgb(32, 162, 82);"><span style="color: rgb(38, 140, 46);">**__<span style="color: rgb(237, 188, 38);">December 7, 1979 __** : The Soviet advisers to the <span class="wiki_link_ext">Afghan Armed Forces advised them to undergo maintenance cycles for their tanks and other crucial equipment. including their primary target, the <span class="wiki_link_ext">Tajbeg Presidential Palace. In all, the initial Soviet force was around 1,800 <span class="wiki_link_ext">tanks , 80,000 soldiers and 2,000 <span class="wiki_link_ext">AFVs. In the second week alone, Soviet aircraft had made a total of 4,000 flights into Kabul.<span class="wiki_link_ext"> The Soviet force rose with the arrival of the two later divisions to over 100,000.
 * __<span style="color: rgb(16, 69, 249); background-color: rgb(122, 31, 104);">December 27, 1979: __** 700 Soviet troops dressed in Afghan uniforms occupied major governmental, military, and media buildings in Kabul,
 * __<span class="mw-headline" style="color: rgb(84, 192, 176); background-color: rgb(130, 48, 48);">December 1979-February 1980: __** Soviet troops entered Afghanistan, quickly taking control of the major urban centers, military bases and strategic installations.

The Soviets occupied the cities and main axes of communication, while the mujahideen waged a guerrilla war. Heavy fighting also occurred in the provinces neighboring Pakistan, where cities and government outposts were constantly under siege by the mujahideen.

<span style="color: rgb(143, 255, 0);"><span style="background-color: rgb(81, 28, 186);">**__<span style="background-color: rgb(8, 7, 7);"><span style="color: rgb(130, 186, 33);"><span style="color: rgb(195, 233, 32);"><span style="color: rgb(181, 240, 20);"><span style="color: rgb(245, 239, 107);"> April 1985-January 1987:     __**  The first step of the exit strategy from Afghanistan was to transfer the burden of fighting the mujahideen to the Afghan armed forces, with the aim of preparing them to operate without Soviet help.

<span style="background-color: rgb(154, 19, 19);">__**<span style="color: rgb(197, 237, 182);">January 1987-February 1989: **__ Soviet troops prepared and executed their withdrawal from Afghanistan. They hardly engaged in offensive operations at all, and were content to defend against mujahideen raids. The first half of the Soviet contingent was withdrawn between May 15 and August 16, 1988 and the second from November 15th to February 15, 1989. The withdrawal was generally executed peacefully, as the Soviets had negotiated ceasefires with local mujahideen commanders, in order to ensure a safe passage. The agreement on withdrawal held, and on February 15, 1989, the last Soviet troops departed on schedule from Afghanistan.



=<span style="font-size: 150%; color: rgb(248, 63, 63);">TOTALS: = <span style="font-size: 150%; color: rgb(248, 18, 18);">
 * || SOVIET || AFGHANS ||
 * Served || 620,000 || 250,000 ||
 * Killed || 14,435 || 70,000+ ||
 * Injured || 469,685 || unknown ||
 * Other || 118 aircraft || 1,000,000+ civilians dead ||
 * || 333 helicopters || 5,000,000 fled the country ||
 * || 147 tanks || 2,000,000 displaced ||
 * || 1,314 IFV/APCs ||  ||
 * || 433 artillery guns and mortars ||  ||
 * || 1,138 radio sets and command vehicles ||  ||
 * || 510 engineering vehicles ||  ||
 * || 11,369 trucks and petrol tankers ||  ||


 * Only 11.44 percent of Soviet casualties were wounded, injured, or sustained concussion and 88.56 fell sick because of local climatic and sanitary conditions. There were 115,308 cases of infectious hepatitis, 31,080 of typhoid fever, and 140,665 of other diseases.

<span style="background-color: rgb(3, 3, 3);"><span style="font-size: 150%; color: rgb(0, 255, 250);">Result: Soviet withdrawal. Afghan Civil War continues as of 2009.

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