With the 1970s coming to a close, the Cold War was seemingly going through a lull, and
tensions between the United States and the USSR were easing.
This would all change right before the end of the decade, with the Soviet Union’s invasion
of Afghanistan – a conflict of global proportions, albeit indirectly, due to the fact that a
great number of the world’s powers were involved.
Its significance is frequently overlooked, which is especially surprising if we consider
the fact that the conflict’s reverberations can be felt to this day in almost every corner
of the world.
If you’re interested in the history of this era, don’t forget to check out our second
channel, the Cold War.
The link is in the top-right corner.
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Afghanistan was recognized as a sovereign country in 1919, after a war with the British.
The country subsequently established close ties with its largest neighbor, the Soviet
Union.
Over the next 5 decades, the USSR’s influence in Afghanistan would only grow, with Afghanistan’s
economy and military becoming dependent on the Soviet Union.
Thousands of Afghan soldiers were trained in the USSR, many embracing Marxist ideals
and they would found the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan in 1965.
In 1973, Afghanistan’s monarchy was abolished in a coup and Mohammad Daoud Khan would become
the first President of the country.
Five years later, a high-ranking member of the PDPA was assassinated, culminating in
another coup, led by the PDPA, and the murder of Khan.
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was established on the 28th of April, with Nur
Mohammad Taraki becoming its President and Hafizullah Amin Prime Minister.
Taraki’s political reforms, most notably the ones regarding education and marriage,
horrified conservative rural sensibilities, in turn encouraging resistance on religious
grounds.
The PDPA lacked any real ability to rule the country so they responded with severe repression
towards any unrest.
Counterproductively, the repression united the opposition against Taraki’s government
and the DRA slowly began losing control of the countryside to Islamic resistance movements,
collectively known as the Mujahideen.
On March 15th, 1979, an uprising began in Herat.
The central government sent the 17th division of the army to defeat the uprising, however,
the soldiers mutinied and joined the insurrection.
The uprising was eventually quelled, but it became evident to everyone that the DRA’s
army was in a state of disrepair.
This weakness of the Afghan government further strengthened the Mujahideen insurgency, with
uprisings breaking out everywhere.
The Afghan government managed to secure a treaty that ensured the aid of the Soviet
troops.
Nonetheless, Brezhnev and the rest of the Soviet leadership were not eager to enter
any direct conflict.
Meanwhile, the relationship between Taraki and Amin also began to sour, climaxing in
Taraki’s assassination in October 1979.
Amin set out to undo many of Taraki’s reforms, but it was too little too late.
The Afghan people still hated him and the DRA’s control of the countryside became
nominal or non-existent.
Following the assassination of Taraki, the Soviet leadership began viewing Amin as a
weak and volatile leader, whose days were numbered.
They argued that if a radical Islamic regime would come to power in Afghanistan, they would
foment unrest in Soviet Central Asia, an area with a considerable Muslim population.
On December 12th, Brezhnev and his key advisors held a secretive meeting, where it was most
likely decided to assassinate Amin.
After a failed poisoning attempt, Soviet advisors instructed Amin to move to the isolated Tajbeg
palace for his own safety.
In reality, it was simply easier for the Soviets to assassinate him there than in the Presidential
palace.
In early December, Soviet special forces consisting of KGB and GRU operatives arrived in Afghanistan.
They were later joined by the 345th Airborne Regiment.
Amin’s desired replacements, Babrak Karmal and Anahita Ratebzad were also brought in
Afghanistan illegally on the 7th.
These special forces were under the overall command of General Yuri Drozdov, the chief
of the Directorate of Illegal Intelligence of the KGB.
They were mostly deployed to the strategically important Bagram airfield and the Hindu Kush,
where Amin’s opposition was hiding.
On December 24th, the Soviet Minister of Defense signed a directive ordering the troops to
“provide international help to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan” and “avert possible
threats to the Soviet Union”.
The 40th Army was chosen for the invasion of Afghanistan, with General-Lieutenant Tukharinov
leading it.
Advance divisions of the invading force, under the 40th Army, entered Afghanistan on the
25th, while engineers began building pontoon bridges over the Amu Darya near Termez.
This invasion force numbered around 80000 men.
Soviet aircraft from the 105th and 103rd Airborne Divisions also began landing near the border
and in Bagram and Kabul.
The 108th Motorized Rifle Division crossed the newly-built pontoon bridges and started
advancing towards Bagram and Kabul through the main roads in the Hindu Kush.
At the same time, the 5th Motorized Rifle Division would advance from Kushka, in Turkmenistan,
towards Herat and Kandahar.
Amin was elated after hearing that Soviet soldiers have entered the capital.
It seemed that his wish had finally come to fruition.
Unfortunately for Amin, this story would be one of history’s cautionary tales.
On the 27th, Soviet special forces captured 12 points of interest in Kabul – major political
institutions and communication hubs.
Meanwhile, Soviet military advisors sabotaged most of the DRA’s military near Kabul.
Tanks were left without munition, soldiers were ordered to check their storage for faulty
ammo and batteries were taken out of vehicles for winter maintenance.
In spite of all signs pointing to the contrary, Amin still believed that the Soviets were
there to help him.
One final attempt to resolve the situation without the use of force was made around noon.
Amin was poisoned yet again, but this time the poison was effective and he, along with
many of his advisors and family, ended up in a coma.
Even though the Afghan forces throughout the city were left virtually useless, the Tajbeg
palace was still heavily defended by more than 2500 soldiers.
There were guards in the palace, along with a security cordon around the building and
several outposts.
An over-watch position was established on a nearby hill, aided by three tanks, together
with an anti-aircraft division.
Additionally, the roads leading to the palace were heavily guarded.
The Soviet assault force consisted of at least 648 men, most of them from the Soviet Special
Operation Forces - the Spetsnaz: including 520 GRU spetsnaz, known as the “Muslim battalion”,
80 paratroopers from the 9th company of the 345th Airborne Regiment, as well as 24 spetsnaz
from the KGB special unit Zenit and another 24 spetsnaz from the elite KGB special unit
A. Babrak Karmal promised 500 of his own guerillas for the operation, but only one actually showed
up.
Soviet paratroopers were also placed further along the roads to the palace to halt any
possible reinforcements.
Due to the fact that the palace was so well-defended, the element of surprise was crucial for the
offensive.
Therefore, Soviet troops conducted decoy operations on the 25th, 26th and the morning of the 27th.
The Afghan defenders were told that these were regular training maneuvers, so they lowered
their guard.
To help maintain the surprise, the Soviet soldiers were also given Afghan military uniforms.
The assault on the palace was supposed to happen at 10pm, however, due to circumstances
within the palace it was moved to 730pm.
20 minutes before the assault began, a group of 14 men attacked the hill where the Afghan
tanks and anti-air defenses were.
Although the Afghans resisted, they were quickly overpowered.
Luckily for the Soviets, the crews were too far from the tanks to reach them in time.
From that position, Soviet troops even fired several shells towards the palace.
The anti-aircraft Shilka systems were also captured and were used to fire during the
offensive.
The tank positions were supposed to be taken silently, so the fire distraught Col. Kolesnik,
one of the commanders.
At 7:15, he gave the order to assault the palace.
Operation Storm-333 had begun.
The Shilka’s were the first to open fire on the palace.
Two other guns fired at Afghan infantry batallions, thus aiding the paratrooper company, which
was supposed to capture Afghan outposts.
The KGB and GRU spetsnaz started the direct assault on the palace complex in armored personnel
carriers.
The first APC passed through the traffic barrier and advanced on the curved road which led
to the palace.
After turning, machine guns and grenade launchers started firing from the building.
The road was heavily defended and in the line of fire, however, all other approaches to
the palace were turned into minefields.
The second APC was quickly disabled by incoming fire and the troops had to abandon it.
Many were wounded at the Zenit sub-commander was killed.
The vehicles had machine guns at the top, though their fire could only reach the 2nd
floor.
This left the Afghan soldiers on the 3rd and 4th floor in a substantially more comfortable
position.
Another APC ran into a brick wall only 20 meters from the palace and those men were
also forced to fight on foot.
Several other vehicles were also disabled.
At 7:30, loud explosions were heard from Kabul, which confused the Afghan defenders.
These explosions took out the wires of the main communication hub in the city and they
were supposed to announce the start of the operation.
Soviet engineers, however, failed to start the timer so the explosion was delayed.
All possible Afghan reinforcements were now headed towards the explosion.
Most of the Soviet soldiers had managed to get near to the palace but they had forgotten
one very important thing.
One of the Afghan security posts was not taken out and those soldiers were free to fire on
the assaulting forces from behind.
An APC was gunned down near the outpost.
This turned out to be a big mistake for the Afghans, as those soldiers managed to quickly
capture it after leaving the vehicle.
Without any fire from the rear or the flanks, the Soviets had an easier time advancing now.
Proof of how intensely the defenders fought was the fact that the first Soviet vehicle
to reach the palace was from the third column.
Those troops quickly left the vehicle, finding cover near the entrance.
The rest of the forces were still pinned down by unrelenting fire from the palace.
The spetsnaz commanders saw this as the crucial point of the battle.
They decided that they would advance quickly towards the building, straight through the
incoming fire.
Other spetsnaz quickly followed, after a machine gun nest had been taken out.
At last in position for the final phase of the assault, members of Alpha broke in through
the front door while members of Zenit broke in through a window on the right.
Those KGB soldiers were the only Soviet troops entering the building.
According to one of the officers, the “Muslim battalion” was ordered to stay outside.
The two dozen KGB spetsnaz now had to deal with Amin’s personal bodyguards, numbering
about 150.
The fighting continued room to room.
The bodyguards resisted stubbornly, wounding many of the Soviets.
Ultimately, their resolve was also broken after a fire broke out in the building.
The GRU stifled all resistance on the outside.
The majority of the Afghan soldiers surrendered once they realized that they were being attacked
by Soviet troops, rather than the Mujahideen.
By now, Amin, aided by his Soviet doctors, had woken up from his coma.
He wandered into the palace bar, wearing nothing but shorts and a T-shirt.
Confused, he asked his men who were the attackers.
To the very end, he would not believe that the Soviets were behind it all.
Only a few minutes afterwards, Amin was shot down by a group A officer and subsequently
blown up by a grenade.
Operation Storm-333 finally came to an end.
All of the Afghan soldiers were killed or captured, while the Soviets lost 5 KGB and
5 GRU members respectively, along with 2 paratroopers.
General Yuri Drozdov arrived at the palace in the morning and made it his headquarters.
After being assured that the mission was a success, Babrak Karmal was flown into Kabul,
to assume his new position as leader of Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, radio and TV stations broadcasted that Hafizullah Amin had been tried and shot
as the enemy of the people and the republic.
This act of aggression by the Soviet Union appalled Afghanistan’s already unruly rural
community.
Even local leaders and mullahs who previously were not opposed to Amin’s rule started
agitating the general populace to rise up against their common enemies.
The mujahideen, consisting of several ideologically diverse groups, also began working towards
a united front of resistance.
Ironically, what made the Soviet operation so simple was Amin’s unwavering belief that
he was fully backed by Moscow and that any Soviet troops in Afghanistan would only be
there to assist him.
The easy part of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was over.
They were now left with a Herculean task, however, pacifying a land known for its fervent
resistance against foreign aggressors.
In the next video in this mini-series we will show if this task was achieved, so make sure
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