Pakistan in the Soviet-Afghan War

History

A man by the name of Mohammoud Daoud gained his presidency of Afghanistan by overthrowing his cousin King Zahir. In doing so Daoud became the first president of Afghanistan. Daoud had very aggressive policies that were progressive like women's rights. He also pushed for a stronger military so he looked toward Russia and Nikita Khrushchev complied. Daoud's over zealous policies made King Zahir forcefully removed Daoud from office. After ten years Daoud used a military coup to regain power of Afghanistan while King Zahir was vacationing. After gaining control once again he turned the country into a Republic and made himself both President and Prime Minister. Daoud used aggressive tactics to remove other candidates from taking his position and it resulted in a public coup against him that resulted in his death. The next man to take power was Nur Taraki and he established the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. Taraki assigned a Russian by the name of Babrak Karmal to the position of Prime Minister. Taraki almost established full women's rights but was killed before he was able to. As a result Karmal took office and also became the President of the Revolutionary Council and Secretary General of the Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan. This outraged the Afghani people and started the Soviet-Afghan War. Pakistan has always had a very strong relationship with Afghanistan because of their similarities. Both countries are muslim, have similar religious groups, share a large border and have supported each other for centuries.

Pakistan involvement

Given the strong relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Pakistan did not hesitate to help out when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Because the countries are borther-countries Pakistan was obviously anti-soviet from the beginning. With help from the United States C.I.A. Pakistan utilized its geographical position and delivered aid to the Afghani rebels. They did so by using the Pakistani Army and the ISI (Inter-Servises Intelligence) to send supplies to the North West Frontier Province which is near the border. The ISI became very formidable with the C.I.A. backing it. Just like in Photographer, weapons were smuggled into Afghanistan by Mujhadieen guerrilla's through the mountains where they would travel by foot. The trips were deadly for these Afghani's but it was the only way to receive the help that they so badly needed.

Resources

Afghanistan – pakistan relations. (2008, February ). Retrieved from http://islamabad.mfa.gov.af/af-pk-relations.asp


The origins of the soviet-afghan war revelations from the soviet archives. (2001, November ). Retrieved from http://www.alternativeinsight.com/Afghan_War.html


Chossudovsky, M. (2008). Pakistan and the "global war on terrorism" . Retrieved from http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7746