December 24, 1979 · Asia Theater
December 24, 1979
On Christmas Eve 1979, Soviet paratroopers seized Kabul airport and killed Afghan President Hafizullah Amin in a special forces assault on the Tajbeg Palace. What followed was a nine-year counterinsurgency war against Mujahideen fighters backed by the CIA, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. The CIA's Operation Cyclone provided Stinger missiles that neutralized Soviet air superiority. By the time the last Soviet troops crossed back over the Amu Darya river on February 15, 1989, 15,000 Soviets and an estimated 1–2 million Afghans were dead.
Commanders