Soviet Occupation
of Afghanistan (24 dic 1979 anni – 15 feb 1989 anni)
Descrizione:
Although neutral to the Cold War, Afghanistan benefited greatly from the conflict as both the Soviet Union and the United States invested vast amounts of money into the country by building highways, airports, and other infrastructure, all in an attempt to influence the politicians to be on their side.
In the late 1970s however, a communist political party within Afghanistan overthrew the ruling party and installed themselves as the new government. After making major reforms across the nation, many people revolted and rebellions sprang up across Afghanistan. By 1979, the country's leader was a man named Hafizullah Amin, who, despite being communist, was not loyal to the Soviet Union and instead attempted to form better relations with the United States.
This displeased the Soviets immensely eventually causing them invade Afghanistan in December 1979. Soviet troops marched into the capital city of Kabul, killed the President Amin, and put in his place a different communist leader from Afghanistan.
The United Nations, as well as 34 Islamic nations, immediately condemned this Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and called for the removal of all Soviet forces. The Soviet Union however, instead sent in even more military power as they began occupying city after city in an attempt to squash all groups who opposed the government.
For the next ten years, Soviet forces occupied Afghanistan as they continued to fight various rebellious factions, many of which were supported by the United States. The Afghan people began using guerrilla warfare to counter the communist armies, but the various military campaigns by the Soviets caused extensive damage to infrastructure across the country and killed many civilians.
Over the years, many people around the world, including those living within the Soviet Union, opposed what was happening in Afghanistan, feeling that it was never going to end. Eventually, the leader of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev decided to finally withdraw Soviet troops from Afghanistan and ended the war in February 1989.
As the Soviet armies departed from Afghanistan however, they left the country devastated from the numerous amounts of bombings over the years. The people were also now divided into a number of different factions, all wanting to gain rulership over the country. Some of these factions grouped together against the current government, bringing the entire country into a violent civil war that is still going on today.
Aggiunto al nastro di tempo:
Data:
24 dic 1979 anni
15 feb 1989 anni
~ 9 years
Immagini: