Warriors-internationalists of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus

The Afghan War (1979-1989) is one of the stages of the civil war in Afghanistan, marked by the presence of a military contingent of Soviet troops on the territory of that country. In this conflict, the armed forces of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA), on the one hand, and armed opposition (mujahideen, or dushmans) took part on the other. The struggle was fought for full political control over the territory of Afghanistan. The Soviet Army, introduced into the country by the decision of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee to support the Kabul government, was directly involved in the military conflict. The Mujahideen during the conflict were supported by military specialists of the United States, a number of European countries - NATO members, China, as well as Pakistani special services.
One of the reasons for the war was the desire to support the supporters of the concept of socialism in Afghanistan, who came to power as a result of the April Revolution, faced with a powerful opposition to their social, economic and political strategy. American military and economic activities in the region created a threat of the withdrawal of Afghanistan from the Soviet sphere of influence. Also, the entry of Soviet troops was aimed at preventing the possible strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism in the region caused by the Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979. The fall of the pro-Soviet government itself would mean a strong blow to the foreign policy positions of the USSR, since, if this happened, it would be the first post-war case of deposition pro-Soviet government. Theoretically, in addition to direct consequences, the spread of fundamentalism could significantly destabilize Soviet Central Asia through the Afghan Tajiks. At the international level, it was stated that the USSR was guided by the principles of "proletarian internationalism". As a formal basis, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee used the repeated requests of the Afghan leadership and personally Hafizullah Amin to provide the country with military assistance to fight anti-government forces.
The Soviet troops entered Afghanistan were involved in the internal military conflict on the side of the government. They guarded the roads, many objects of Soviet-Afghan economic cooperation. They protected and ensured the operation of airfields in large cities. Contributed to the strengthening of authorities in 21 provincial centers. They carried out columns with military and national economy goods for their own needs and in the interests of the DRA. Together with Afghan units and subunits conducted military operations of various scale to defeat armed groups and opposition groups, as well as to fight against caravans delivering weapons and ammunition to the DRA from Pakistan and Iran.
The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, which was monitored by UN observers, was completed by February 15, 1989.