Timeline

1979-1980s: The Soviets develop and Americans respond

The initial Soviet development began on December 24th, 1979, in Afghanistan under the control of Soviet president Lenoid Brezhnev. During that time, the Soviets spent their time taking over most of Afghanistan and other neighboring countries and spreading Soviet influences whether it was by peace or force. There were some who resisted the soviet rule, one group in particular called the Mujaheddin. The Mujaheddin were Muslim guerrilla warriors engaged in Jihad, who made it very difficult for the Soviets to ultimately take over. Meanwhile, the Americans received word of the Soviet's actions and on July 3, 1979, President Jimmy Carter authorized funding for the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan. In order to execute this policy, Ronald Reagan deployed CIA special activities division officers to train and equip the Mujaheddin. This program had a heavy reliance on the Pakistan alliance, but nonetheless sent U.S troops and military trainers that supplied all the help the Mujaheddin needed.

1980-1985: The Red Menace Strikes back

The war now goes into a turning point as the Soviet strike back by occupying the cities and main axis of communications, while the Mujaheddin divided into small groups. During this time 80 percent of the country escaped certain control of the government. In the North and West, Soviets planned strategic moves and planned special attacks on hidden Mujaheddin bases to counter Iranian influences. Some regions in Afghanistan were basically untouched by the fighting and lived in complete independence. Between 1980 and 1985, the Soviets and Mujaheddin pursue each other with a total of nine offenses (Pakistan faced the hardest fights). In 1985, the siege of the Soviet forces increased to 108,000 and fighting increased throughout the entire country, thus making 1958 the bloodiest year of the war. Despite such suffering, the Mujaheddin were able to maintain their resistance against the Soviets.

April 1985- January 1987: The beginning of the end

At this point, the Soviets grow weary of such constant struggle with the Mujaheddin and start developing an exit strategy. Their first step is to get rid of their burden with the Mujaheddin and transfer it over to the Afghan armed forces. During this phase, the Soviets allies, the DRA, were able to create an official strength of 302,000 in 1986. In May of 1987, the DRA decided to attack well prepared Mujaheddin forces in the Arghandab district but were thwarted by the Mujaheddin themselves. The Mujaheddin benefited from American, Saudi Arabian, and other Muslim countries' assistance.

January 1987- February 1989: if you guessed Soviet Withdraw, you guessed right!

With the presidency of Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985 came the idea of new thinking on domestic and foreign policy, which proved to be an important factor for the Soviet surrender. Gorbachev's goal was to ease Cold War tensions with the U.S (which takes shape in 1987), regard confronting China, and withdraw all Soviet troops from places such as Mongolia and later on, Afghanistan. The first half of the Soviets left from May 15 to August 16, 1988 and the second on November to February, 1989. During that time, the Soviets negotiated a ceasefire with local Mujaheddin, so the withdrawal was peaceful. After the Soviet's departure, the DRA still remained fighting alone (but not for long). on November 1986, Mohammad Najibullah was elected president and by 1987, he introduced a policy of national reconciliation to ensure negotiations with the Soviets. In 1987, the withdrawal of Soviet troops was announced, and the withdrawal of Soviet forces was planned out by Lt. Boris Gromov, who at the time was commander of the 40th army. Finally, on Fefruary 1989, the last of the soviets make a full withdraw from Afghanistan.

Afghan War veterans celebrate 20 years since the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.