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Soviet–Afghan War

1:53

Soviet Afghan War - RAW FOOTAGE

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Soviet-Afghan War - In 2 Minutes

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Soviet War in Afghanistan: The First Week - CBS Evening News - January 1, 1980

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The Soviet Afghan War (probably) - Countryball

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SABATON - Hill 3234/Soviet–Afghan War animated/AMV CMV/ (Anime/cartoon Mix)/Breadwinner/Black Lagoon

The Soviet–Afghan War was a conflict wherein insurgent groups, as well as smaller Maoist groups, fought a nine-year guerrilla war against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government throughout the 1980s, mostly in the Afghan countryside. The Mujahideen were variously backed primarily by the United States, Pakistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, and the United Kingdom; the conflict was a Cold War-era proxy war. Between 562,000 and 2,000,000 Afghans were killed and millions more fled the country as refugees, mostly to Pakistan and Iran. Between 6.5%–11.5% of Afghanistan's population is estimated to have perished in the conflict. The war caused grave destruction in Afghanistan and is believed to have contributed to the Soviet collapse and the end of the Cold War, in hindsight leaving a mixed legacy to people in both territories.
  • Participants 

  • Russian interest in Central Asia 

  • Soviet–Afghan relations post-1920s 

  • Durand Line and partition of India 

  • 1960s–1970s: Pakistan proxy war 

  • The Saur Revolution of 1978 

  • "Red Terror" of the revolutionary government 

  • Affairs with the USSR after the revolution 

  • Initiation of the insurgency 

  • Pakistan–U.S. relations and rebel aid 

  • Soviet deployment, 1979–1980 

  • Red Army intervention and Palace coup 

  • International positions on Soviet intervention 

  • December 1979 – February 1980: Occupation and national unrest 

  • Operations against the guerillas, 1980–1985 

  • Reforms of the Karmal administration 

  • Mujahideen insurrection 

  • Raid inside Soviet territory 

  • Media reaction 

  • Foreign diplomatic efforts 

  • April 1985 – January 1987: Exit strategy 

  • May 1986 – 1988: Najibullah and his reforms 

  • Negotiations for a coalition 

  • April 1988: The Geneva Accords 

  • January 1987 – February 1989: Withdrawal 

  • Afghan and Soviet warplanes in Pakistani airspace 

  • Stinger Missile and "Stinger effect" 

  • War crimes 

  • Massacres 

  • Wanton destruction 

  • Torture 

  • Looting 

  • Pro-Mujahideen 

  • Pakistan 

  • United States 

  • United Kingdom 

  • China 

  • Pro-Soviet 

  • Soviet personnel strengths and casualties 

  • Casualties and destruction in Afghanistan 

  • Refugees 

  • Effect on Afghan society 

  • Weakening of the Soviet Union 

  • Civil war 

  • Extremism and international terrorism 

  • Spread of extremism in Pakistan 

  • "Blowback" of the U.S. 

  • Media and popular culture 

  • Perception in Afghanistan 

  • Role of the United States 

  • Perception in the former Soviet Union 

  • Russian Federation 

  • Ukraine 

  • Uzbekistan 

  • Belarus 

  • Moldova