Soviet-Afghan · War Crimes & Atrocities
The Soviet-Afghan War was marked by systematic atrocities primarily committed by Soviet and DRA forces against the Afghan civilian population, as part of a deliberate strategy to depopulate areas of Mujahideen support. The tactics included massacre of village populations, destruction of irrigation systems and crops, and mass deployment of anti-personnel mines designed to injure rather than kill — maximizing the burden on Afghan communities. Mujahideen forces also committed serious abuses, particularly against captured Soviet and DRA soldiers and against rival factions. The war's human cost — estimated at one million civilians — reflects not incidental collateral damage but systematic terrorization of the population as a counterinsurgency strategy.
1,000+
deaths
Victims: Afghan villagers suspected of sheltering the Mujahideen
Victims: Afghan villagers and Mujahideen fighters in remote valleys
200,000+
deaths
Victims: Rural Afghans whose farmland, karez irrigation, and livestock were destroyed
Victims: Rural civilians and children drawn to the toy-like mines
400+
deaths
Victims: Villagers of Padkhwab-e-Shana, reportedly burned alive in an irrigation tunnel
50,000+
deaths
Victims: Afghan civilians caught between rival factions