Write briefly about conflict with the Afghans.
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Afghanistan has long been used as a battleground for strategic wars by larger external powers. This is in part due to its geographic position between the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia. In addition, the fragmented and polarised nature of Afghan society, which is made up of many different ethnic groups, has led to its multiple internal struggles which have gained support from the different external powers. The almost continuous devastation caused to the country for over three decades is testament to the strength and endurance of its people and the groups who work towards rebuilding their country.
In 1978 the Saur Revolution overthrew the existing government and implemented a Socialist agenda. Led by Hafizullah Amin and the military of the Khalq party, the agenda included a move to state atheism, introduced land reforms, and declared the equality of the sexes. Reigning President Mohammad Daoud Khan, along with 17 other members of his family, was overthrown and killed just hours after the start of the coup, while many members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment and the intelligentsia were also imprisoned, tortured or killed. The revolutionaries went on to free prominent figures of the Khalq party, and Noor Mohammad Taraki was chosen as leader and President. Following this, the Mujahedeen, loosely-aligned opposition forces made up of groups of mostly Pashtun tribesmen, began attacks aimed at overthrowing the Marxist-Leninist government, which was also under attack from other left-wing groups who opposed President Taraki. The ruling party in turn requested the support of the Soviet Union in fighting the Mujahedeen resistance, removing the other left-wing opposition, and supporting the failing Afghan army. There was a massive initial deployment of 100,000 Red Army troops into Afghanistan. The US saw this as a prime opportunity to weaken the Soviet Union as part of its Cold War strategy, and they began to provide training and arms to the Mujahedeen resistance groups, along with extra support from other countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UK.
Estimates of the financial and military assistance from these external powers ranged from $10 to $40 billion over the nine-year conflict. It officially ended in 1989 with the withdrawal of the Soviet forces. The devastation caused by the conflict left an estimated 2 million people dead and 1.5 million people disabled, in part due to the massive urban carpet-bombing campaigns and the large areas of land mines that still exist today. Two million people were internally displaced, and one third of the country's pre-war population fled into neighbouring Pakistan, Iran and further afield.
image by US Army, published under the Creative Commons License
By 1992, the Communist government had collapsed and the Peshawar Accord declared Afghanistan to be the Islamic State of Afghanistan. However, many groups refused to acknowledge the new government and the country soon fell into a civil war that lasted throughout the 1990s. Working government departments, the police, justice systems and education systems did not have time to reform after the Soviet War and much of the country descended into lawlessness. This led to areas being controlled by different armed factions, who in turn were supported by governments and groups in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and the US.
In the early 1990s in Kandahar, a militia group called the Taliban began to emerge as a political and religious force, which supposedly opposed the tyrannical rule of the local governor, and began to instil greater order in the area. Led by Mohammed Omar, it had the support of many Afghan refugees from Pakistan. The group gained increasing recognition, power, and support as it began to take control of much of southern and central Afghanistan.
In 1978 the Saur Revolution overthrew the existing government and implemented a Socialist agenda. Led by Hafizullah Amin and the military of the Khalq party, the agenda included a move to state atheism, introduced land reforms, and declared the equality of the sexes. Reigning President Mohammad Daoud Khan, along with 17 other members of his family, was overthrown and killed just hours after the start of the coup, while many members of the traditional elite, the religious establishment and the intelligentsia were also imprisoned, tortured or killed. The revolutionaries went on to free prominent figures of the Khalq party, and Noor Mohammad Taraki was chosen as leader and President. Following this, the Mujahedeen, loosely-aligned opposition forces made up of groups of mostly Pashtun tribesmen, began attacks aimed at overthrowing the Marxist-Leninist government, which was also under attack from other left-wing groups who opposed President Taraki. The ruling party in turn requested the support of the Soviet Union in fighting the Mujahedeen resistance, removing the other left-wing opposition, and supporting the failing Afghan army. There was a massive initial deployment of 100,000 Red Army troops into Afghanistan. The US saw this as a prime opportunity to weaken the Soviet Union as part of its Cold War strategy, and they began to provide training and arms to the Mujahedeen resistance groups, along with extra support from other countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UK.
Estimates of the financial and military assistance from these external powers ranged from $10 to $40 billion over the nine-year conflict. It officially ended in 1989 with the withdrawal of the Soviet forces. The devastation caused by the conflict left an estimated 2 million people dead and 1.5 million people disabled, in part due to the massive urban carpet-bombing campaigns and the large areas of land mines that still exist today. Two million people were internally displaced, and one third of the country's pre-war population fled into neighbouring Pakistan, Iran and further afield.
image by US Army, published under the Creative Commons License
By 1992, the Communist government had collapsed and the Peshawar Accord declared Afghanistan to be the Islamic State of Afghanistan. However, many groups refused to acknowledge the new government and the country soon fell into a civil war that lasted throughout the 1990s. Working government departments, the police, justice systems and education systems did not have time to reform after the Soviet War and much of the country descended into lawlessness. This led to areas being controlled by different armed factions, who in turn were supported by governments and groups in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and the US.
In the early 1990s in Kandahar, a militia group called the Taliban began to emerge as a political and religious force, which supposedly opposed the tyrannical rule of the local governor, and began to instil greater order in the area. Led by Mohammed Omar, it had the support of many Afghan refugees from Pakistan. The group gained increasing recognition, power, and support as it began to take control of much of southern and central Afghanistan.
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