What happened after Soviet tanks rolled into Afghanistan on December 24, 1979.

On December 24, 1979, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978.

In 1979 Soviet tanks roll into Afghanistan

In the midnight, a massive military organized into Kabul airlift the Soviets, involving three divisions of almost 8,500 men each and 280 transport aircraft. Within a few days, the Soviets had secured Kabul, deploying a special unit against Tajberg Palace. Those Elements of the Afghan army which are loyal to Hafizullah Amin put up a fierce, but with a brief resistance.

Babrak Karmal on December 27, exiled the leader of the Parcham faction of the Marxist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), and was installed as Afghanistan’s new head of government and the Soviet ground forces entered from the north of the Afghanistan.

Despite of fierce resistance when they ventured out of their strongholds and entered into the countryside. The Resistance fighters, called mujahidin, saw the Christian or atheist Soviets controlling Afghanistan as a defilement of Islam as well as of their traditional culture. Proclaiming a “jihad”(holy war), they gained the support of the Islamic world.

Then mujahidin employed thier guerrilla tactics against the Soviets. They started attack or raid quickly, then get disappear into the mountains, this caused great destruction without pitched battles. The fighters used whatever weapons they could grab from the Soviets or were given by the United States.

This tide of the war turned with the year 1987 when U.S. shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. The Stingers allowed the mujahidin to shoot down Soviet planes and helicopters regularly.

Mikhail Gorbachev the new Soviet leader decided it was the time to get out. He was Demoralized and with no victory in sight, Soviet forces started going back in 1988. The last Soviet soldier crossed back across the border on February 15, 1989.

It was the first Soviet military voyage goes beyond the Eastern bloc since World War II thus marked the end of a period of improving relations in the Cold War. Subsequently. The SALT II arms treaty was shelved and the U.S. began to re-arm.

More than Fifteen thousand Soviet soldiers were killed.

This long-term impact of the invasion and subsequent war was profound. First, the Soviets have never recovered from the public relations and the financial losses, which were significantly contributed to the fall of the Soviet empire in 1991. Secondly, this war created a breeding ground for terrorism and the rise of Osama bin Laden.

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