How the soviet forces were defeated in afghanistan

However, the recent polls have shown that the majority of the Afghan populations have showed their support for the coalition forces that overthrew the Taliban in the past even though the support is now declining because the coalition has not been able to establish law and order in the country. The tasks of the Soviet Union were more difficult at the time of the invasion and this led to its defeat. Various strategies were used in defeating the soviet forces. Background of the war In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan with the goal of helping the communist forces in the country to establish a communist government. The reason for Soviet involvement into the country is that it felt that Afghanistan had various important resources and could act as a foothold in the area.

They used whatever weapon in their hands to fight the soviets. The turning point of the war was in 1987 when the US introduced the shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. However, the mujahidin used stingers to shoot down the Soviet helicopters and planes regularly. Mikhail Gorbachev, a new Soviet leader decided to get out of Afghanistan because they were almost losing the battle. This made the Soviet forces to start withdrawing from Afghanistan in 1988. They responded to this by moving to Afghanistan countryside and mountains. Most battles occurred in the mountains. The Soviets used helicopters in efforts to lure them out of the mountains, which provided them with ultimate sports for hiding. The mountains also enabled the Mujahidin to use the guerilla tactics. At some point, the Soviets bombed civilian locations near the countryside and mountains to cut off the support that civilians offered to the troop.

Different sects meant that mujahidin was not under one command. Thus, destroying a single commanding force did not translate to dismembering the entire mujahidin group. The sects used various strategies and it was difficult for the Soviet Union to fully understand and destroy them. The acquisition of weapons from the outside sources and receiving support from other Muslim volunteers led to the increased intensity of the war. Various sects would rise up from various parts of the country in efforts to eliminate the soviet soldiers. Pakistan support of Mujahidin During the war, Pakistan played a strategic role that made the mujahidin forces to be successful in the war; thus, resulting in the withdrawal of Soviet Union from Afghanistan. One of the strategic roles it played was the provision of guerilla training.

The premier intelligence agency of Pakistan, that is, the ISI operated various training camps in various tribal camps within the country. They collaborated with the CIA. The Zia regime had started an ideological campaign for jihad through partnerships with religious political parties. There was a sharp increase in religious organizations that promoted jihadist agendas in Pakistan. This was due to the state patronage of the Afghan jihad. The Pakistani jihad groups established good relations with Afghan counterparts. They joined the training camps in Pakistan and joined the Afghans in fighting the Soviets. Peshawar and other tribal areas in Pakistan became hubs for the militants and the base camps of operation. Even after the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, Najibullah, which was a communist regime in Kabul attempted to end the mujahidin resistance in Afghanistan but due to the political, military, and economic support that Pakistan provided, the regime proved to be too vulnerable and was not able to confront the threat.

Mujahidin succeeded in executing the Najibullah regime later on and it entered Kabula in 1992. Pakistan supported Sibghatullah Mojaddedi to become the first president of Afghanistan as an Islamic state. What followed were stronger relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan8. The Support from China During the period of the war, China had implemented new policies for economic reform and it established normalized relations with the US. They were shipped to Pakistan in March 1986 and they were first used in September 1986 after the mujahidin troops were taken through a thorough training. The use of the missiles led to public acknowledgment of stinger threat by the Soviets. This led the soviets to privately begin considering withdrawal10. It has been acknowledged that the introduction of Stinger missiles from China was the turning point of the war.