In 1979 Hazifullah Amin, who was the prime minister of Afghanistan wanted to get rid of Muslim traditions, and also bring in a more communist government. Many people of the country did not agree with this and formed a group call the Mujahideen. The group said that is was on a holy mission from Allah. Soviet troops invaded claiming that they were invited there by Amin to keep peace and a stable government.
Hazifullah Amin
Soon after the invasion the Soviets killed Amin and replaced him with Babrak Kamal. To maintain Kamal's position of power the Soviets had to have 85,000 troops in Afghanistan to fight of the Mujahideen resistance. Most of the troops of the Afghan government were switching to be a part of the Mujahideen resistance.
Babrak Kamal
The soviets had a really hard time fighting off the resistance. There were a couple of reasons why. First of all the Afghan people had the homefield advantage. They knew the way of the land and how to survive in the mountains. They also used guerilla warfare tactics, which is where there is a quick surprise attack and then the attackers run away. The Afghan people used this technique because they were no match for the Soviets technologically, and Guerilla tactics are hard to fight against. By May 15, 1988 the Soviets were withdrawing there troops from Afghanistan. The guerilla tactics never made huge swings in the war, but slowly weakened the Soviets.
The war was referred to as the Soviets "Vietnam." The war ruined the economy of the Soviet Union and led to the collapse of the government, and to the communist practice in the region.
Sources: http://www.guidetorussia.com/russia-afghanistan.asp and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_war_in_Afghanistan
Comments