The Soviet-Afghan War
A decade of occupation bleeds the USSR and arms a generation of militants.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 9.1 years
- Era
- Contemporary, Holocene
Soviet forces enter Afghanistan in December 1979 and withdraw in 1989 having lost some 15,000 troops, with over a million Afghans dead. American, Saudi and Pakistani support flows to the mujahideen through Pakistani intelligence. The war contributes materially to Soviet collapse, and the networks, weapons and ideology it fostered feed directly into the Taliban and al-Qaeda.