Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan

Soviet troops’ withdrew from Afghanistan in February 1989, after a nine year long conflict that involved the Islamist Mujahadeen resistance and the Soviet Union that had been asked to support the Marxist government of the democratic republic of Afghanistan. The U.S viewed resistance in Afghanistan as an integral Cold war struggle and the United States began training insurgents in, and directing propaganda broadcasts into Afghanistan from Pakistan in 1978. Afghans were also aided by the U.K, Egypt, China, Iran, and Pakistan.

During the Soviet occupation about a million Afghans lost their lives as the Red Army tried to impose control and millions more fled abroad as refugees. The Soviet authorities hailed the withdrawal from Afghanistan as a victory although many people felt the exit marked a major humiliation of the Red Army's military power. The civil war continued following the Soviet withdrawal, as the mujahideen pushed to overthrow President Najibullah, who was toppled in 1992. The war also fuelled an extremist Islamic ideology (the jihad as holy war) and put into place an infrastructure for a terrorist network due to the fact that the anti communist mujahedeen had been armed and trained by the U.S in cooperation with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Soviet occupation led to severe international diplomatic response. US president Jimmy Carter placed a trade embargo on shipments of commodities such as grain and weapons. Anxiety with the West brought about the end of the period of détente which was a period in the 70s during which relations between the Soviet Union and the United States had eased considerably. The Non Aligned Countries were also divided between those that believed the Soviet deployment to be legal and others who considered the deployment an illegal invasion. Also, China joined the U.S and Western Europe in condemning the Soviets, thereby improving China- U.S relations.