Talk:Soviet–Afghan War

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A fact from this article was featured on Wikipedia's Main Page in the On this day section on 12 dates. [show]

February 15, 2005, February 15, 2006, December 27, 2006, February 15, 2007, February 15, 2008, February 15, 2009, February 15, 2010, February 15, 2012, February 15, 2014, February 15, 2017, December 24, 2019, and December 24, 2024

Section sizes

Section size for Soviet–Afghan War (61 sections)
Section name	Byte count	Section total
(Top)	22,947	22,947
Naming	1,269	1,269
Background	88	43,612
Russian interest in Central Asia	3,506	6,438
Soviet–Afghan relations post-1920s	2,932	2,932
Afghanistan–Pakistan border	3,547	3,547
1960s–1970s: Proxy war	2,626	2,626
1973 coup d'état	6,494	6,494
Saur Revolution of 1978	4,427	15,782
"Red Terror" of the revolutionary government	5,321	5,321
Affairs with the USSR after the revolution	6,034	6,034
Initiation of the rebellion	4,841	8,637
Pakistan–U.S. relations and rebel aid	3,796	3,796
Soviet deployment, 1979	15,615	15,615
Soviet invasion and palace coup	8,699	30,171
International positions on Soviet invasion	9,722	9,722
Military aid	2,083	2,083
State of the Cold War	3,606	3,606
December 1979 – February 1980: Occupation and national unrest	6,061	6,061
Soviet occupation, 1980–1985	38	32,307
Soviet military operations against Afghan guerrillas	11,365	11,365
Reforms of the Karmal administration	1,354	1,354
Mujahideen insurrection	12,652	19,550
Raids inside Soviet territory	2,115	2,115
Media reaction	4,783	4,783
Soviet exit and change of Afghan leadership, 1985–1989	63	22,494
Foreign diplomatic efforts	1,476	1,476
April 1985 – January 1987: Exit strategy	2,951	2,951
May 1986–1988: Najibullah and his reforms	3,838	5,427
Negotiations for a coalition	1,589	1,589
April 1988: The Geneva Accords	1,351	1,351
January 1987 – February 1989: Withdrawal	7,880	11,226
Causes of withdrawal	3,346	3,346
Fall of Najibullah government, 1992	978	978
Aerial engagements	101	6,753
Aerial losses in Pakistan airspace	1,136	1,136
Stinger missiles and the "Stinger effect"	5,516	5,516
War crimes	285	285
Foreign involvement	6,566	6,566
Spillover	14	5,552
Raids inside the Soviet Union	1,685	1,685
Aerial engagements with Pakistan	1,286	1,286
Terror campaign in Pakistan	862	862
Miram Shah incident	455	455
Badaber uprising	546	546
Raid inside Iran	704	704
Impact	205	17,693
Soviet personnel strengths and casualties	4,917	4,917
Casualties and destruction in Afghanistan	5,962	5,962
Refugees	4,608	4,608
Effect on Afghan society	2,001	2,001
Aftermath	83	83
Media and popular culture	181	181
Perception in Afghanistan	111	111
Perception in the former Soviet Union	118	118
Notes	34	34
References	1,486	1,486
Bibliography	8,616	9,863
Historiography and memory	1,247	1,247
Further reading	788	788
External links	1,360	1,360
Total	220,266	220,266

On 30 April 2023, it was proposed that this article be moved from Afghan–Soviet War to Soviet–Afghan War. The result of the discussion was moved.

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Afghan civilian death count includes conflicting info

The numbers in these two sentences do not agree. 11.5% of 13.5 million isn't close to 3 million. "The war resulted in the deaths of approximately 3,000,000 Afghans, while millions more fled from the country as refugees; most externally displaced Afghans sought refuge in Pakistan and in Iran. Approximately 6.5% to 11.5% of Afghanistan's erstwhile population of 13.5 million people (per the 1979 census) is estimated to have been killed over the course of the conflict." Sdfoltz (talk) 17:13, 26 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Guardian

@Seoul1989, describing Peter Beaumont as a "columnist" is clearly misleading. Remsense ‥ 论 07:16, 10 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Move to Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?

Most sources seem to call it "Soviet invasion of Afghanistan" (google scholar: 25,000) as opposed to "Soviet-Afghan war" (google scholar: 6,000). Remsense any thoughts? VR _{(Please ping on reply)} 15:41, 15 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I always thought the title being "Soviet–Afghan War" was weird. Most sources I've engaged with describe it as the "Soviet invasion of Afghanistan". Without prejudice on motivations, this was not a war between the states of Afghanistan and the Soviet Union, but Soviet troops did ~~unilaterally~~ enter and occupy much of Afghanistan's territory on behalf of the new revolutionary government. Yue🌙 22:43, 15 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I think you have a point. The title makes it look like the Soviets were fighting Afghanistan as a state, but in reality they were fighting alongside the DRA against the Mujahideen who were being funded by numerous foreign countries. The Afghan government, under the Khalq, made 9 requests for the Soviet Union to enter our country but this was rejected. One request even involved Taraki asking for Soviet soldiers to dress up in Afghan Army uniforms but this was also rejected. The USSR reportedly did not want to enter Afghanistan because they knew it was a bad decision, but after the death of Nur Muhammad Taraki (at the hands of Hafizullah Amin) changed their minds.

This is all according to The Great Gamble: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mj45URQ1lpIC&pg=PP5&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&gboemv=1&ovdme=1&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false AfghanParatrooper19891 (talk) 07:45, 16 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Date?

The infobox has the war starting on 24 December 1979, but the text seems to indicate either 25 or 27 December - it gives both dates for Soviet troops entering Afghanistan. Andrew Gray (talk) 20:01, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

It was on 25 December 1979.

At midday on 25 December Ustinov issued the formal order to move: ‘The state frontier of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan is to be crossed on the ground and in the air by forces of the 40th Army and the Air Force at 1500 hrs on 25 December (Moscow time)’. The Soviet intervention had begun.^[1]

--Jo1971 (talk) 20:18, 26 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

@Jo1971 Thanks - I've updated the infobox. There's still a bit of a muddled section in Soviet–Afghan War#Soviet invasion and palace coup - second paragraph has 25 December, sixth starts "Soviet ground forces, under the command of Marshal Sergey Sokolov, entered Afghanistan from the north on 27 December...". I've not changed that for the moment in case there's a subtlety I'm missing. Andrew Gray (talk) 00:13, 27 January 2025 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Braithwaite, Rodric (2011). Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979–1989. Oxford University Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-19-983265-1.

[1] Braithwaite, Rodric (2011). Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979–1989. Oxford University Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-19-983265-1.

[1]