How many people died during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?
15,000 Soviet soldiers
About 15,000 Soviet soldiers were killed, and about 35,000 were wounded. About two million Afghan civilians were killed. The anti-government forces had support from many countries, mainly the United States and Pakistan. The war started when the Soviet Union sent its 40th Army to fight in Afghanistan.
How many people died in Afghanistan civil war?
Overall the war has killed 171,000 to 174,000 people in Afghanistan. However, the death toll is possibly higher due to unaccounted deaths by “disease, loss of access to food, water, infrastructure, and/or other indirect consequences of the war.”
What happened during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979?
At the end of December 1979, the Soviet Union sent thousands of troops into Afghanistan and immediately assumed complete military and political control of Kabul and large portions of the country. In the summer of 1973, Mohammed Daoud, the former Afghan Prime Minister, launched a successful coup against King Zahir.
How many people died in the Soviet War in Afghanistan?
Foreign support propped up the diverse group of rebels, pouring in from Iran, Pakistan, China, and the United States. In the brutal nine-year conflict, an estimated one million civilians were killed, as well as 90,000 Mujahideen fighters, 18,000 Afghan troops, and 14,500 Soviet soldiers.
What was the cost of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan?
As the war of pacification dragged on for years, the Babrak Karmal government was further weakened by the poor performance of its army. CIA estimated that from their initial invasion in December 1979 through 1986 the Soviets had spent about 18 billion rubles on the conduct of the war.
When did the Soviet Union invade Afghanistan in 1979?
Encyclopaedia Britannica’s editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree…. Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, invasion of Afghanistan in late December 1979 by troops from the Soviet Union.
When did the Afghan War start and end?
Afghan War, in the history of Afghanistan, the internal conflict that began in 1978 between anticommunist Islamic guerrillas and the Afghan communist government (aided in 1979–89 by Soviet troops), leading to the overthrow of the government in 1992.