On December 26, 1979, Soviet special forces seize the presidential palace in Kabul. The Kremlin believes that the adventure in Afghanistan has ended in success, but this is only the beginning of a bloody resistance to Moscow's aggression.
It all began two days earlier on Christmas Eve. History recalls that the invasion of the USSR was carried out under the pretext that it aimed to maintain the Soviet-Afghan treaty of "friendship" signed in 1978.
As midnight approached, the USSR organized a massive airlift to Kabul, including nearly 280 military aircraft and three divisions of 85,000 people each. Within a few days, Soviet forces were able to establish control over Kabul, deploying assault troops against the Tayberg Palace. Part of the Afghan army, loyal to the regime of Khalifazullah Amin, put up serious resistance to the Soviet offensive, but it was not enough.
On December 27, Babrak Karmal, who was part of the "Parcham" faction of the Marxist People's Democratic Party and had been sent into exile, was proclaimed the new Prime Minister of Afghanistan.
In 1973, the King of Afghanistan, Zakir Shah, was overthrown while on a visit to Italy.
The coup was carried out by his relative, Prince Muhammad Daoud. However, he was a kind of local equivalent of Kemal Ataturk. Daoud renounced his title, declared a republic and began to impose pro-Western reforms to lead the country out of the feudal system, recalls "ClubZ".
On April 27, 1978, the Saur Revolution took place. Power was seized by the pro-Soviet People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), headed by Nur Mohammad Taraki. The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) was established.
This was also the beginning of the bloody civil war in the country. The Islamists took up arms, dissatisfied with the attempts to impose a Marxist regime.
In March 1979 the military revolted in the city of Herat. Then the authorities in Kabul for the first time asked the USSR for direct military intervention. However, the Soviet Politburo rejected the request, as it was considered that its consequences would be negative.
Nevertheless, the USSR increased the number of its troops along the border with Afghanistan. By order of the Minister of War, Marshal Dmitry Ustinov, preparations for a military landing began. The number of Soviet military advisers in the country was increased from 409 to 4,500 people.
In September 1979, Nur Muhammad Taraki was arrested and strangled with a pillow by order of his party colleague Hafizullah Amin, who became the new leader of the DRA. In fact, it was a struggle between two factions of the PDPA. These were Taraki's "Parcham" ("Flag") and "Khalq" ("People") of Amin.
The new leadership began repressions against Taraki's people, as well as against the army leadership. The USSR was already seriously worried, although a proven comrade and Marxist was in power in Kabul.
Amin himself sent 7 requests to the Soviet Union to intervene in Afghanistan in three months. In the end, Moscow decided to satisfy this request, but not in the way the petitioner wanted.
Soviet troops encountered strong resistance when they tried to enter the province.
The resistance fighters, called "mujahideen", believed that the Christian military forces were dishonoring Islam and its culture.
The mujahideen began to lead the so-called “guerrilla warfare”, recalls "Focus". They make rapid advances, causing enormous damage to Soviet units, without engaging in open battles, and then withdraw into the mountains. In their advances, they use any type of weaponry that they manage to take from their enemy or that the United States sends them.
The tide of the war turns in 1987, when the Afghans begin to use American anti-aircraft systems. Stinger portable anti-aircraft missile systems allow the Afghans to shoot down Soviet military aircraft and helicopters.
In 1988, Mikhail Gorbachev decides to end the invasion. The Soviet troops have no prospect of success in the military campaign, and the soldiers begin to lose morale. The last Soviet troops withdrew on February 15, 1989.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan claimed the lives of over 15,000 soldiers. This failure led to many consequences. The USSR never managed to recover economically, and public opinion about what was happening was negative. The war also led to the creation of numerous terrorist organizations, and subsequently to the rise of Osama bin Laden.