Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan On Christmas 1979, paratroopers belonging to Russia landed in Kabul when Afghanistan was still in a civil war. Prime minister, Hafizullah Amin, tried to lessen Muslim tradition within the country and he wanted it to be more western like. Many Muslim leaders had gotten arrested and others had fled the capitol and gone to the mountains away from Amin's police. Amin lead a communist based government, which doesn't accept religion. Many Muslims in Afghanistan joined the Mujahdeen- a force on a holy mission for Allah. These people wanted to overthrow the Amin government. This Mujahdeen decided to declare a jihad, a holy war, on Amin and his supporters.
Russians claimed that they were invited in by Amin's government and were not invading the country. Their task was to form a serious government and the Mujahdeen were no more than terrorists. Amin was shot by the Russians and replaced by Babrak Kamal on December 27, 1979. Most of the Afghan soldiers left to go to the Mujahdeen and Kamal's government needed 85,000 Russian soldiers to keep Babrak Kamal in power. The Mujahdeen were equipped with old rifles but had more knowledge about the mountains around Kabul and the weather there. By 1982, 75% of Afghanistan was controlled by the Mujahdeen even though they were fighting against the world's second most strong military power. Army boots didn't even last ten days before they were already falling to pieces in the harsh environment of Afghanistan's mountains. Mikhail Gorbachev took Russia out of the war when he realized that many Russian leaders were scared to admit that Russia couldn't win the war and it would cost them too much in Russia's already weak economy. By the end of the 1980's, Taliban fighters and the Mujahdeen were at war with each other in Afghanistan because the Taliban took a strong grip over the nation and brought forth strict Muslim laws on the afghan population. |
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