Military history of Afghanistan
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Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
( ps, د افغانستان مسلح ځواک) began before 1709 when the
Hotaki dynasty The Hotak dynasty ( ps, fa, ) was an Afghan monarchy founded by Ghilji Pashtuns that briefly ruled portions of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1720s. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak, who led a successful revolution against t ...
was established in
Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...
followed by the
Durrani Empire The Durrani Empire ( ps, د درانيانو ټولواکمني; fa, امپراتوری درانیان) or the Afghan Empire ( ps, د افغانان ټولواکمني, label=none; fa, امپراتوری افغان, label=none), also know ...
. The Afghan military was re-organized with assistance from the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
in 1880, when the country was ruled by
Amir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...
. It was modernized during King
Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1919, ...
's rule in the early 20th century, and then during King
Zahir Shah Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...
's forty-year rule; the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
supplied almost all weapons, training and military needs between the 1950s and 1970s. From 1978 to 1992, the Soviet-backed Afghan Armed Forces engaged in heavy fighting with the multi-national
mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...
groups who were then backed by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
and others. After
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Najibullah's resignation in 1992 and the end of Soviet support, the Afghan military dissolved into portions controlled by different factions. This era was followed by the
Taliban regime The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is a theocracy and an emirate with political powe ...
, whose leaders were trained and influenced by the
Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...
. After the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 and the formation of the
Afghan Interim Administration The Afghan Interim Administration (AIA), also known as the Afghan Interim Authority, was the first administration of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime and was the highest authority of the country from 22 December 2001 until 13 Jul ...
, new military units were created. They were trained by
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
-member states, primarily by the United States. The Afghan Armed Forces operated independently but received some air support from the
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
. As a
major non-NATO ally Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to close allies that have strategic working relationships with the US Armed Forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While the s ...
, Afghanistan continued to receive billions of dollars in military assistance from the United States up until mid-2021. With the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
takover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Islamic Republic Armed Forces are effectively dissolved, with the former insurgents becoming the country's new military. Remnants of the disbanded
Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
regrouped as the
National Resistance Front of Afghanistan The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), also known as the Second Resistance, is a military alliance of former Northern Alliance members and other anti-Taliban fighters loyal to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The founder and p ...
to wage guerrilla warfare against the Emirate.


Origins

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
s have served in the militaries of the
Ghaznavids The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwest ...
(963–1187),
Ghurids The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty and a clan of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the ...
(1148–1215),
Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).
(1206–1527),
Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
(1526–1858) and the
Persian army The military history of Iran has been relatively well-documented, with thousands of years' worth of recorded history. Largely credited to its historically unchanged geographical and geopolitical condition, the modern-day Islamic Republic of I ...
. The current Afghan military traces its origin to the early 18th century when the
Hotaki dynasty The Hotak dynasty ( ps, fa, ) was an Afghan monarchy founded by Ghilji Pashtuns that briefly ruled portions of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1720s. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak, who led a successful revolution against t ...
rose to power in
Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...
and defeated the
Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
Safavid Empire Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
at the
Battle of Gulnabad The Battle of Gulnabad (Sunday, March 8, 1722) was fought between the military forces from Hotaki Dynasty and the army of the Safavid Empire. It further cemented the eventual fall of the Safavid dynasty, which had been declining for decades. Af ...
in 1722. When
Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...
formed the
Durrani Empire The Durrani Empire ( ps, د درانيانو ټولواکمني; fa, امپراتوری درانیان) or the Afghan Empire ( ps, د افغانان ټولواکمني, label=none; fa, امپراتوری افغان, label=none), also know ...
in 1747, his Afghan army fought a number of wars in the
Punjab region Punjab (; Punjabi Language, Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also Romanization, romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the I ...
of
Hindustan ''Hindūstān'' ( , from '' Hindū'' and ''-stān''), also sometimes spelt as Hindōstān ( ''Indo-land''), along with its shortened form ''Hind'' (), is the Persian-language name for the Indian subcontinent that later became commonly used by ...
during the 18th to the 19th century. One of the famous battles was the 1761 Battle of Panipat in which the Afghans invaded and won a pyrrhic victory against the
Maratha Empire The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern Indian confederation that came to dominate much of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century. Maratha rule formally began in 1674 with the coronation of Shi ...
. The Afghans then engaged multiple wars with the
Sikh Empire The Sikh Empire was a state originating in the Indian subcontinent, formed under the leadership of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who established an empire based in the Punjab. The empire existed from 1799, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh captured Lahor ...
, the
Afghan–Sikh Wars The Afghan–Sikh Wars spanned from 1748 to 1837 in Indian Subcontinent, and saw multiple phases of fighting between the Durrani Empire and the Sikh Empire (and its predecessors), mainly in and around Punjab region. The conflict's origins stem ...
saw major territorial losses for the Afghans. During the
First Anglo-Afghan War The First Anglo-Afghan War ( fa, جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan, Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking si ...
,
British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
invaded Afghanistan in 1838 but withdrew in 1842. During the three years a number of battles took place in different parts of Afghanistan.
Traditionally, Afghan governments relied on three military institutions: the regular army, tribal levies, and community militias. The regular army was sustained by the state and commanded by government leaders. The tribal or regional levies - irregular forces - had part-time soldiers provided by tribal or regional chieftains. The chiefs received tax breaks, land ownership, cash payments, or other privileges in return. The community militia included all available able-bodied members of the community, mobilized to fight, probably only in exceptional circumstances, for common causes under community leaders. Combining these three institutions created a formidable force whose components supplemented each other's strengths and minimized their weaknesses.
At the outbreak of the
Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...
(1878–80) the regular army was about 50,000 strong and consisted of 62 infantry and 16 cavalry regiments, with 324 guns mostly organized in horse and mountain artillery batteries. Jalali writes that '..although Amir Shir Ali Khan (1863–78) is widely credited for founding the modern Afghan Army, it was only under
Abdur Rahman Abd al-Rahman ( ar, عبد الرحمن, translit=ʿAbd al-Raḥmān or occasionally ; DMG ''ʿAbd ar-Raḥman''; also Abdul Rahman) is a male Arabic Muslim given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' Abd'', '' ...
that it became a viable and effective institution.' The
Library of Congress Country Study The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the United States Library of Congress, freely available for use by researchers. No copyright is claimed on them. Therefore, they have been dedicated to the public domain a ...
for Afghanistan states:
Abdur Rahman was the creator of the modern Afghan state. When he came to the throne n 1880 the army was virtually nonexistent. With the assistance of a liberal financial loan from the British, plus their aid in the form of weapons, ammunition, and other military supplies, he began a 20-year task of creating a respectable regular force by instituting measures that formed the long-term basis of the military system. These included increasing the equalization of military obligation by setting up a system known as the hasht nafari (whereby one man in every eight between the ages of 20 and 40 took his turn at military service); constructing an arsenal in Kabul to reduce dependence on foreign sources for small arms and other ordnance; introducing supervised training courses; organizing troops into divisions, brigades, and regiments, including battalions of artillery; developing pay schedules; and introducing an elementary (and harsh) disciplinary system.


20th century


Soviet aid

After the
Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...
ended, the reforming
Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1919, ...
did not see the need for a large army, instead deciding to rely on Afghanistan's historical martial qualities. This resulted in neglect, cutbacks, recruitment problems, and finally an army unable to quell the 1929 uprising that cost him his throne. However, under his reign, the
Afghan Air Force The Air Force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Royal Afghan Air Force was e ...
was formed in 1924. The Afghan Armed Forces were expanded during King
Zahir Shah Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...
's reign, reaching a strength of 70,000 in 1933. Adamec writes that the army was 60,000 strong in 1936, and included two corps in Kabul; three divisions in the Southern Province; one division Household troops (Guard Division); one artillery division; and two independent mixed divisions. Total divisions were 13 plus the artillery division. It is not clear how much the Army was involved in the
Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947 The Afghan tribal revolts of 1944–1947 or the Khost disturbances were a series of tribal revolts in the Kingdom of Afghanistan by Zadran, Safi and Mangal tribesmen which lasted from February 1944 to January 1947. The causes of the revolts la ...
. Following the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Afghanistan briefly received continued military support from the British government under the Lancaster Plan from 1945 to 1947, until the
partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...
transformed British priorities. Afghanistan declined to join the 1955 United States-sponsored
Baghdad Pact The Middle East Treaty Organization (METO), also known as the Baghdad Pact and subsequently known as the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), was a military alliance of the Cold War. It was formed in 24 February 1955 by Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Turk ...
; this rebuff did not stop the United States from continuing its low-level aid program, but it was reluctant to provide Afghanistan with military assistance, so Daoud turned to the Soviet Union and its allies, and in 1955 he received approximately US$25 million of military aid. During the 1950s and 1960s, Afghanistan purchased moderate quantities of Soviet weapons. It was mainly
Sukhoi Su-7 The Sukhoi Su-7 ( NATO designation name: Fitter-A) is a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as a tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role. On the ...
,
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-21; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, De ...
fighter jets,
T-34 The T-34 is a Soviet medium tank introduced in 1940. When introduced its 76.2 mm (3 in) tank gun was less powerful than its contemporaries while its 60-degree sloped armour provided good protection against Anti-tank warfare, anti-tan ...
and
Iosif Stalin tank The IS tanks (russian: ИС) were a series of heavy tanks developed as a successor to the KV-series by the Soviet Union during World War II. The IS acronym is the anglicized initialism of Joseph Stalin (, '). The heavy tanks were designed as a r ...
s,
SU-76 The SU-76 ('' Samokhodnaya Ustanovka 76'') was a Soviet light self-propelled gun used during and after World War II. The SU-76 was based on a lengthened version of the T-70 light tank chassis and armed with the 76 mm divisional gun M1942 (ZiS-3) ...
self-propelled guns,
GAZ-69 The GAZ-69 is a four-wheel drive off-road vehicle produced by GAZ (ГАЗ, or ''Gorkovsky Avtomobilnyi Zavod'', Gorky Automobile Factory) between 1953 and 1956 and then by UAZ, in 1956–1972, though all of these light truck class vehicles were k ...
4x4 light trucks of jeep class (in many versions),
ZIL-157 The ZIL-157 is a general-purpose -ton 6×6 truck, produced at the Lichachev plant in the Soviet Union from 1958 to 1977, when production was transferred to the Amur plant, since the Lichachev plant wanted to focus more on modern trucks, such as ...
military trucks, Katyusha multiple rocket launchers, and
BTR-40 The BTR-40 (БТР, from Бронетранспортёр, or '' Bronetransporter'', literally "armoured transporter† is a Soviet non-amphibious, wheeled armoured personnel carrier and reconnaissance vehicle. It is often referred to as the ''So ...
and
BTR-152 The BTR-152 is a six-wheeled Soviet Union, Soviet armored personnel carrier (БТР, from Бронетранспортер/''BTR (vehicle), Bronetransporter'', literally "armored transporter"), built on the chassis and drive train of a ZIS-151 uti ...
armored personnel carriers. Also included were PPSh-41 and
RPK The RPK (russian: Ручной пулемёт Калашникова/РПК, Ruchnoy Pulemyot Kalashnikova, link=no, English: "Kalashnikov hand-held machine gun"), sometimes retroactively termed the RPK-47, is a Soviet 7.62×39mm light machine ...
machine guns. In addition, the Soviet Union and its allies began construction of military airfields in
Bagram Bagram (; Pashto/ fa, بگرام) is a town and seat in Bagram District in Parwan Province of Afghanistan, about 60 kilometers north of the capital Kabul. It is the site of an ancient city located at the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir Va ...
,
Mazar-e-Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...
, and Shindand. By the 1960s, Soviet assistance started to improve the structure, armament, training, and command and control arrangements for the military. The Afghan Armed Forces reached a strength of 98,000 (90,000 soldiers and 8,000 airmen) by this period. During this time in September 1960, irregulars & regulars of the Royal Afghan Army invaded the Bajaur district of Pakistan which resulted in intense skirmishes with Pakistani forces & local Pakistani tribesmen. However, the Afghan forces faced a defeat after they were flushed out of the area. After the exile of King
Zahir Shah Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...
in 1973,
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Daud Khan forged stronger ties with the Soviets by signing two highly controversial military aid packages for his nation in 1973 and 1975. Between 1973 and 1978, Afghanistan obtained more sophisticated Soviet weapons such as Mi-4 and
Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. It is now produced by Russia. In addition to ...
helicopters,
Sukhoi Su-22 The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet military. Its NATO reporting name is "Fitter". Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to enter ...
and Il-28 jets. A great many
T-55 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet main battle tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks ...
,
T-62 The T-62 is a Soviet Union, Soviet main battle tank that was first introduced in 1961. As a further development of the T-54/T-55, T-55 series, the T-62 retained many similar design elements of its predecessor including low profile and thick ...
, and
PT-76 The PT-76 is a Soviet amphibious light tank that was introduced in the early 1950s and soon became the standard reconnaissance tank of the Soviet Army and the other Warsaw Pact armed forces. It was widely exported to other friendly states, like ...
tanks arrived and huge amounts of
AKM The AKM () is an assault rifle designed by Soviet small arms designer Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1959. It is the most ubiquitous rifle of the Kalashnikov rifles. It was developed as a replacement to the AK-47 introduced a decade prior. Introduc ...
assault rifles were ordered. Armored vehicles delivered in the 1970s also included
ZIL-135 The ZIL-135 is a large, eight-wheeled military transport and self-propelled artillery truck produced during the Cold War by the Soviet Union starting in 1959. Its purpose was to carry and launch an artillery missile, specifically a FROG-7, from ...
s,
BMP-1 The BMP-1 is a Soviet amphibious tracked infantry fighting vehicle, in service 1966–present. BMP stands for ''Boyevaya Mashina Pyekhoty 1'' (russian: link=no, Боевая Машина Пехоты 1; БМП-1), meaning "infantry fighting ...
s,
BRDM-1 The BRDM-1 (''Bronirovannaya Razvedyvatelnaya Dozornaya Mashina'', Бронированная Разведывательная Дозорная Машина, literally "armored reconnaissance/patrol vehicle") is a Soviet amphibious armored scout ca ...
s,
BTR-60 The BTR-60 is the first vehicle in a series of Soviet eight-wheeled armoured personnel carriers (APCs). It was developed in the late 1950s as a replacement for the BTR-152 and was seen in public for the first time in 1961. BTR stands for ''Bronet ...
s,
UAZ-469 The UAZ-469 is an off-road military light utility vehicle manufactured by UAZ. It was used by Soviet and other Warsaw Pact armed forces, as well as paramilitary units in Eastern Bloc countries. In the Soviet Union, it also saw widespread service ...
, and
GAZ-66 The GAZ-66 is a Soviet and later Russian 4x4 all-road (off-road) military truck produced by GAZ. It was one of the main cargo vehicles for motorized infantry of the Soviet Army and is still employed in former Soviet Union countries. It is nickna ...
as well as large quantities of small arms and artillery. The Afghan Armed Forces and police continued to receive up-to-date Soviet weapons, as well as training by the
KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
and
Soviet Armed Forces The Soviet Armed Forces, the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union and as the Red Army (, Вооружённые Силы Советского Союза), were the armed forces of the Russian SFSR (1917–1922), the Soviet Union (1922–1991), and th ...
, for another three years. Due to problems with local political parties in his country, President Daud Khan decided to distance himself from the Soviets in 1976. He made Afghanistan's ties closer to the
Greater Middle East The Greater Middle East, is a political term, introduced in March 2004 in a paper by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as part of the U.S. administration's preparatory work for the Group of Eight summit of June 2004, denoting a v ...
and the United States instead.
By the time Daoud visited the Soviet Union again in April 1977, the Soviets were aware of his purge of the left that began in 1975, his removal of Soviet advisers from some Afghan military units, and his diversification of Afghan military training (especially to nations like India and Egypt, where they could be trained with Soviet weapons but not by Soviets).
In April 1978 there was a coup, known as the
Saur Revolution The Saur Revolution or Sowr Revolution ( ps, د ثور انقلاب; prs, إنقلاب ثور), also known as the April Revolution or the April Coup, was staged on 27–28 April 1978 (, ) by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) ...
, orchestrated by members of the government loyal to the
People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), ''Hezb-e dimūkrātĩk-e khalq-e Afghānistān'' was a Marxist–Leninist political party in Afghanistan established on 1 January 1965. Four members of the party won seats in the 1965 Afgha ...
(PDPA). This led to a full-scale Soviet
invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...
in December 1979, led by the
40th Army The 40th Army (, ''40-ya obshchevoyskovaya armiya'', "40th Combined Arms Army") of the Soviet Ground Forces was an army-level command that participated in World War II from 1941 to 1945 and was reformed specifically for the Soviet–Afghan War fro ...
and the
Airborne Forces Airborne forces, airborne troops, or airborne infantry are ground combat units carried by aircraft and airdropped into battle zones, typically by parachute drop or air assault. Parachute-qualified infantry and support personnel serving in ai ...
. In 1981 the total strength of the Afghan Armed Forces was around 85,000 troops according to
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
. The Afghan Army had around 35–40,000 soldiers, mostly conscripts; the Air Force had around 7,000 personnel; and the total of all
military personnel Military personnel are members of the state's armed forces. Their roles, pay, and obligations differ according to their military branch (army, navy, marines, air force, space force, and coast guard), rank (officer, non-commissioned officer, or e ...
was around 87,000 in 1984. Throughout the 1980s, the Afghan Armed Forces was heavily involved in fighting against the multi-national
mujahiddin ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term t ...
rebel groups who were largely backed by the United States and trained by the
Pakistan Armed Forces The Pakistan Armed Forces (; ) are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are ...
. The rebel groups were fighting to force the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan as well as to remove the Soviet-backed government of President
Mohammad Najibullah Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (Pashto/ prs, محمد نجیب‌الله احمدزی, ; 6 August 1947 – 27 September 1996), commonly known as Dr. Najib, was an Afghan politician who served as the General Secretary of the People's Democratic Par ...
. Due to large number of defectors, the Afghan Armed Forces in 1985 were reduced to no more than about 47,000, the actual figure probably being lower. The Air Force had over 150 combat aircraft with about 7,000 officers who were supported by up to 5,000
Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force The Cuban Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force ( es, Defensa Anti-Aérea y Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria) commonly abbreviated to DAAFAR in both Spanish and English, is the air force of Cuba. History Background The Cuban Army Air Force was ...
and
Czechoslovak Air Force The Czechoslovak Air Force (''Československé letectvo'') or the Czechoslovak Army Air Force (''Československé vojenské letectvo'') was the air force branch of the Czechoslovak Army formed in October 1918. The armed forces of Czechoslovakia ce ...
advisers. Under the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. The PDPA came to power ...
(1978–1992), weapon deliveries by the Soviets were increased and included
Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (russian: Миль Ми-24; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and has been o ...
helicopters,
MiG-23 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generatio ...
fighter aircraft, ZSU-23-4 "Shilka" and
ZSU-57-2 The ZSU-57-2 Ob'yekt 500 is a Soviet self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG), armed with two 57 mm autocannons. 'ZSU' stands for '' Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka'' (russian: link=no, Зенитная Самоходная Установ ...
anti-aircraft self-propelled mounts,
MT-LB The MT-LB (russian: Многоцелевой Тягач Легкий Бронированный, translit=Mnogotselevoy tyagach legky bronirovanny, literally "multi-purpose towing vehicle light armored") is a Soviet multi-purpose, fully amphib ...
armored personnel carriers, BM-27 "Uragan" and BM-21 "Grad" multiple-launch rocket systems and
FROG-7 The 9K52 ''Luna-M'' (russian: Луна; en, moon, NATO reporting name FROG-7) is a Soviet short-range artillery rocket system which fires unguided and spin-stabilized 9M21 rockets. It was originally developed in the 1960s to provide divisiona ...
and
Scud A Scud missile is one of a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second World, Second and Third World, Third World countries. The term comes from the NATO reporti ...
launchers. Some of the weapons that were not damaged during the decades of wars are still being used today. Weapons supplies were made available to the mujahideen rebel groups through numerous countries; the United States purchased all of Israel's captured Soviet weapons clandestinely, and then funnelled the weapons to the mujahideen rebels, while
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
upgraded their own Army's weapons, and sent the older weapons to the mujahideen, Turkey sold its World War II stockpiles to the warlords, and the British and Swiss provided Blowpipe missiles and Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns respectively, after they were found to be poor models for their own forces.Kinsella, Warren. "Unholy Alliances", Lester Publishing, 1992 China provided the most relevant weapons, likely due to their own experience with
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
, and kept meticulous record of all the shipments. Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989 the mujahiddin rebel attacks continued and grew in intensity. For several years the Afghan Armed Forces had actually increased their effectiveness past levels ever achieved during the Soviet military presence. The eleven-year Siege of Khost ended with the city's fall in March 1991. But the government was dealt a major blow when
Abdul Rashid Dostum Abdul Rashid Dostum ( ; prs, عبدالرشید دوستم; Uzbek Latin: , Uzbek Cyrillic: , ; born 25 March 1954) is an Afghan exiled politician, former Marshal in the Afghan National Army, founder and leader of the political party Junbish- ...
, a leading general, switched allegiances to the mujahideen forces in 1992 and together they captured the city of Kabul. By 1992 the Army fragmented into regional militias under local
warlord A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...
s because of the fall of the Soviet Union which stopped supplying the Afghan Armed Forces and later in 1992 when the
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. The PDPA came to power ...
government lost power. After the
fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...
of Najibullah's regime in 1992, the various Afghan political parties began to assemble their own more formal armed forces. By February 1992 Massoud's
Jamiat-i-Islami Jamayat-E-Islami (also rendered as Jamiat-e-Islami and Jamiati Islami; fa, جمعیت اسلامی افغانستان, lit=Islamic Society), sometimes shortened to Jamiat, is a predominantly Tajik political party in Afghanistan. It was origi ...
had a central force reported at six battalions strong, plus additional second tier units, "the bulk of the army, ..made up of regional battalions, subordinate to local commanders of the Supervisory Council." On 16 January 1993 ''Jane's Defence Weekly'' reported that "a special assembly of 1335 delegates elected from across Afghanistan" had both elected Professor
Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (Persian: ; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistani politician and teacher who served as President of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996 (in exile from 1996 to 2001). Born in the Badakhshan Province, Rab ...
as President of the
Islamic State of Afghanistan The Islamic State of Afghanistan ( fa, , ''Dawlat-i Islāmī-yi Afghānistan'', ps, , ''Da Afghanistan Islami Dowlat'') was the government of Afghanistan, established by the Peshawar Accords on 26 April 1992 by many, but not all, Afgha ...
for two years, and agreed to "establish a regular army with soldiers mostly drawn from Mojahedin groups." Pakistan had offered training assistance. However, a
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
started between the various warlords, including
Ahmad Shah Massoud ) , branch = Jamiat-e Islami / Shura-e Nazar Afghan Armed Forces United Islamic Front , serviceyears = 1975–2001 , rank = General , unit = , commands = Mujahideen commander during the Soviet–Afghan Wa ...
,
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ( ps, ګلب الدين حكمتيار; born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so calle ...
, Abdul Rashid Dostum,
Abdul Ali Mazari ) , image = Abdul Ali Mazari.jpeg , caption = , office1 = Leader of Hezbe Wahdat , primeminister1= , term_start1 = 1989 , term_end1 = 13 March 1995 , predecessor1 = , successor1 = , office2 = , pri ...
,
Jalaluddin Haqqani Jalaluddin Haqqani ( ps, جلال الدين حقاني, Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥaqqānī) (1939 – 3 September 2018) was an Afghan insurgent commander who founded the Haqqani network, an insurgent group fighting in guerilla warfare against US-led ...
,
Ismail Khan Mohammad Ismail Khan (Dari/Pashto: محمد اسماعیل خان) (born 1946) is an Afghan former politician who served as Minister of Energy and Water from 2005 to 2013 and before that served as the governor of Herat Province. Originally a cap ...
,
Atta Muhammad Nur Atta Muhammad Nur (also spelled Ata Mohammed Noor; fa, عطا محمد نور; born 1964) is an Afghan exiled politician and former militant who served as the Governor of Balkh Province in Afghanistan from 2004 to January 25, 2018. An ethnic T ...
,
Abdul Rasul Sayyaf Abdulrab Rasul Sayyaf ( ; ps, عبدالرسول سیاف; born 1946) is an exiled Afghan politician and former mujahideen commander. He took part in the war against the Marxist–Leninist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) govern ...
,
Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi Mohammad Nabi Mohammadi ( ps, محمد نبي محمدي; 1920–2002) was an Afghan politician and mujahideen leader who was the founder and leader of the Harakat-i-Inqilab-i-Islami ( Islamic Revolution Movement) political party and paramilit ...
,
Mohammad Yunus Khalis Mawlawi Mohammad Yunus Khalis (alternate spellings Yunis and Younas) ( ps, محمد يونس خالص; c. 1919 – 19 July 2006) was a mujahideen commander in Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War. His party was called Hezb-i-Islami ("Isla ...
,
Gul Agha Sherzai Gul Agha Sherzai (), also known as Mohammad Shafiq, is a politician in Afghanistan. He is the former governor of Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. He previously served as Governor of Kandahar province, in the early 1990s and from 2001 ...
and many others. They received
logistics Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...
support from foreign powers including Russia, Pakistan, India, Iran, China, France and others.


First Taliban Government period

When the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
took power in 1996, the local warlords and their followers fled Kabul to the north of the country. With the backing and support of Pakistan, the Taliban solidified their own state military forces.
Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...
was also training its fighters in the Taliban controlled territory, including their high-quality
055 Brigade The 055 Brigade (or 55th Arab Brigade) was a guerrilla organization sponsored and trained by Al Qaeda that was integrated into the Taliban army between 1995 and 2001. Composition and role The unit consisted mostly of foreign guerrilla fighters ( ...
. The Taliban forces possessed over 400 T-54/55 and
T-62 The T-62 is a Soviet Union, Soviet main battle tank that was first introduced in 1961. As a further development of the T-54/T-55, T-55 series, the T-62 retained many similar design elements of its predecessor including low profile and thick ...
tanks and more than 200 Armoured personnel carriers.''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
Taliban lose grip on Mazar i Sharif
November 7, 2001
The
Afghan Air Force The Air Force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Royal Afghan Air Force was e ...
under the Taliban maintained five supersonic MIG-21MFs and 10
Sukhoi-22 The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet military. Its NATO reporting name is "Fitter". Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to enter ...
fighter-bombers. In 1995, during the
1995 Airstan incident The Airstan incident was an international incident involving Russia and the Taliban of Afghanistan in 1995 and 1996. On 3 August 1995, Taliban-controlled fighter aircraft intercepted an Airstan Ilyushin Il-76TD transport aircraft, with seven Rus ...
, a Taliban fighter plane captured a Russian transport. They also held six
Mil Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (russian: Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. It is now produced by Russia. In addition t ...
helicopters, five
Mi-35 The Soviet and later Russian Mil Mi-24 helicopter has been produced in many variants, as described below. History In 1966, Soviet aircraft designer Mikhail Mil created a mock-up design of a new helicopter (derived from the Mil Mi-8) which was m ...
s, five L-39Cs, six
Antonov An-12 The Antonov An-12 (Russian: Антонов Ан-12; NATO reporting name: Cub) is a four-engined turboprop transport aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. It is the military version of the Antonov An-10 and has many variants. For more than thr ...
, 25
An-26 The Antonov An-26 (NATO reporting name: Curl) is a twin-engined turboprop civilian and military transport aircraft, designed and produced in the Soviet Union from 1969 to 1986.Gordon, Yefim. Komissarov, Dmitry & Sergey. "Antonov's Turboprop Twins ...
, a dozen
An-24 The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) ( NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Irk ...
/32, an IL-18, and a Yakovlev.Jane's Sentinel Security Assessment,
Jane's Information Group Jane's Information Group, now styled Janes, is a global open-source intelligence company specialising in military, national security, aerospace and transport topics, whose name derives from British author Fred T. Jane. History Jane's Informatio ...
, 2001.


U.S. war in Afghanistan (2002–2021)

After the formation of the
Karzai administration Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repu ...
in late 2001, the Afghan armed forces was gradually reestablished by the United States and its allies. They assumed their current form from May 2002. Over two decades, 2001–2021, the United States spent an estimated $83 billion on the Afghan military through the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund and an additional $36 billion to support the Afghan government. Initially, a new land force, the
Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...
(ANA), was created, along with an air arm, the
Afghan National Army Air Corps The Air Force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Royal Afghan Air Force was es ...
, as part of the army. The army later included
Commandos Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
and Special Forces. The ANA Air Corps later split off to become an independent branch, the
Afghan Air Force The Air Force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Royal Afghan Air Force was e ...
. Training was managed initially by the U.S. Office of Military Cooperation, followed by other U.S. organizations and then
Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan Combined may refer to: * Alpine combined (skiing), the combination of slalom and downhill skiing as a single event ** Super combined (skiing) * Nordic combined (skiing), the combination of cross country skiing and ski jumping as a single event * T ...
, and was finally run by the
Resolute Support Mission Resolute Support Mission (RSM) or Operation Resolute Support was a NATO-led multinational mission in Afghanistan. It began on 1 January 2015 as the successor to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which was completed on 28 Decem ...
. The President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was the Commander-in-Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces, who were administratively controlled through the
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
. Before the Fall of
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, they had major bases and small outposts all across Afghanistan, including in the provinces of
Badakhshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...
,
Balkh ), named for its green-tiled ''Gonbad'' ( prs, گُنبَد, dome), in July 2001 , pushpin_map=Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_relief=yes , pushpin_label_position=bottom , pushpin_mapsize=300 , pushpin_map_caption=Location in Afghanistan ...
,
Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...
,
Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...
,
Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
,
Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...
, Nangarhar and
Parwan Parwan (Dari: ), also spelled Parvan, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 751,000. The province is multi-ethnic and mostly rural society. The province is divided into ten districts. The town of Imam Abu Hanif ...
, as well as in the cities of
Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...
,
Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
,
Gardez , settlement_type =City , image_skyline =gardez_paktya.jpg , imagesize = , image_caption =The Bala Hesar fortress in the center of Gardez City , image_flag = , flag_size = , image_sea ...
,
Khost Khōst ( ps, خوست) is the capital of Khost Province in Afghanistan. It is the largest city in the southeastern part of the country, and also the largest in the region of Loya Paktia. To the south and east of Khost lie Waziristan and Kurram ...
, Fayzabad, Farah and
Zaranj Zaranj or Zarang (Persian/Pashto/ bal, زرنج) is a city in southwestern Afghanistan, near the border with Iran, which has a population of 160,902 people as of 2015. It is the capital of Nimruz Province and is linked by highways with Lashkargah ...
. The Afghan Air Force was relatively capable before and during the 1980s but by late 2001, the number of operational aircraft available was minimal. The United States and its allies quickly eliminated the remaining strength and ability of the Taliban to operate aircraft in the opening stages of their intervention. With the occupation of airbases by American forces it became clear how destitute the Air Force had become since the withdrawal of the Soviet Union. Most aircraft were only remnants rusting away for a decade or more. Many others were relocated to neighboring countries for storage purposes or sold cheaply. The AAF was reduced to a very small force while the country was torn by civil war. It was gradually strengthened by CSTC-A's NATO-led multinational Combined Air Power Transition Force. By 2006, more than 60,000 former militiamen from around the country were disarmed. In 2007, it was reported that the
DDR DDR or ddr may refer to: *ddr, ISO 639-3 code for the Dhudhuroa language *DDr., title for a double doctorate in Germany *DDR, station code for Dadar railway station, Mumbai, India *' (German Democratic Republic), official name of the former East ...
programmes had dismantled 274 paramilitary organizations, reintegrated over 62,000 militia members into civilian life, and recovered more than 84,000 weapons, including heavy weapons. But ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' also reported a rise in hoarded weapons and a growing Taliban threat, even in the north of the country.
Commandos Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
were established in 2007, later growing from a battalion to a brigade. The aim of Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups programme was to ban all illegal armed groups in all provinces of the country. Approximately 2,000 such groups have been identified; most of them surrendered to the Afghan government or joined the new armed forces. The NATO-trained Afghan National Army grew to a size of 31 Kandaks, or
Battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...
s, at one point 28 of which were announced as combat ready. Seven regional corps headquarters were created. The
National Military Academy of Afghanistan The National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA) ( ps, د افغانستان ملي پوځي اکاډمي fa, آکادمی نظامی ملی افغانستان) was one of three academic institutions of the Marshal Fahim National Defense Unive ...
was built to provide future officers, modeled after the
United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
. The
Marshal Fahim National Defense University The Marshal Fahim National Defense University, also known as the Afghan National Defense University, is a military academy located in Kabul, Afghanistan. It formally housed various educational establishments for the Afghan Armed Forces. The un ...
is located in Kabul province and consists of a headquarters building, classrooms, dining facility, library, and medical clinic. In addition to this, an $80 million central command center was built next to the
Hamid Karzai International Airport , nativename-r = , image = Flightline at Kabul International Airport.jpeg , caption = The flightline at Kabul International Airport in January 2012 , IATA = KBL , ICAO = OAKB , ...
. In 2012, Afghanistan became a
major non-NATO ally Major non-NATO ally (MNNA) is a designation given by the United States government to close allies that have strategic working relationships with the US Armed Forces but are not members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). While the s ...
of the United States. Sizable numbers of Afghan officers are sent to be trained in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
either at the
Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...
in
Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...
, the
National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces, where cadets of the three services i.e. the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force train together before they go on ...
near
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
or the
Officers Training Academy The Officers Training Academy (OTA) is a training establishment of the Indian Army that trains officers for the Short Service Commission (SSC). The 49-week course at the OTA prepares graduates for all branches of the Army, except for the Army Me ...
in
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. The Indian Military Academy which has been in existence since 1932, provides a 4-year degree to army officers, while the National Defence Academy is a tri-service college provides a 3-year degree after which officers undergo a 1-year specialization in their respective service colleges. The Officers Training Academy on the other hand provides a 49-week course to Graduate officer candidates. In 2014 the number of Afghan officers in training in India was nearly 1,100. The total manpower of the Afghan Armed Forces was approximately 186,000 as of 2021. It was around 164,000 in May 2011. The United States was also largely responsible for the growth of the Afghan Air Force, as part of the Combined Air Power Transition Force, from four aircraft at the end of 2001 to about 100 as of 2011. Types include Lockheed C-130 Hercules and Pilatus PC-12 transport aircraft, as well as Mi-17 troop-carrying helicopters and
Mil Mi-35 The Soviet and later Russian Mil Mi-24 helicopter has been produced in many variants, as described below. History In 1966, Soviet aircraft designer Mikhail Mil created a mock-up design of a new helicopter (derived from the Mil Mi-8) which was ...
attack helicopter An attack helicopter is an armed helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the offensive capability of engaging ground targets such as enemy infantry, military vehicles and fortifications. Due to their heavy armament they ...
s. The aircrew are being trained by an American team. Eventually the air force had over 200 refurbished aircraft, which includes
A-29 Super Tucano The Embraer EMB 314 Super Tucano (English: ''Super Toucan''), also named ALX or A-29, is a Brazilian turboprop light attack aircraft designed and built by Embraer as a development of the Embraer EMB 312 Tucano. The A-29 Super Tucano carries a ...
attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pre ...
,
Lockheed C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally design ...
and
Pilatus PC-12 The Pilatus PC-12 is a pressurized, single-engined, turboprop aircraft, manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Stans, Switzerland, since 1991. It was designed as a high-performance utility aircraft that incorporates a large aft cargo door in ad ...
s
military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to ma ...
, as well as UH-60A Black Hawk,
Mil Mi-17 The Mil Mi-17 ( NATO reporting name: Hip) is a Soviet-designed Russian military helicopter family introduced in 1975 (Mi-8M), continuing in production at two factories, in Kazan and Ulan-Ude. It is known as the Mi-8M series in Russian servic ...
, and other types of helicopters. It also included trainers such as
Aero L-39 Albatros The Aero L-39 Albatros is a high-performance jet trainer designed and produced in Czechoslovakia by Aero Vodochody. It is the most widely used jet trainer in the world; in addition to performing basic and advanced pilot training, it has also fl ...
and
Cessna 182 The Cessna 182 Skylane is an American four-seat, single-engined light airplane built by Cessna of Wichita, Kansas. It has the option of adding two child seats in the baggage area. Introduced in 1956, the 182 has been produced in a ...
s. The manpower of the Afghan Air Force was around 7,000, which includes over 450 pilots. It also had a small number of female pilots.


Taliban government since mid-2021

As of 15 August 2021, what remained of the Ghani government's armed forces were left leaderless and dispersed due to the
2021 Taliban offensive A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...
and the Fall of Kabul to the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
. Some have since partly regrouped as the
National Resistance Front of Afghanistan The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), also known as the Second Resistance, is a military alliance of former Northern Alliance members and other anti-Taliban fighters loyal to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The founder and p ...
. As Afghan forces accepted the circumstances of the Doha Agreement and the
withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan The United States has conducted two withdrawals of United States troops from Afghanistan: *Withdrawal of United States troops from Afghanistan (2011–2016), draw down of United States Armed Forces in the Afghanistan war *Withdrawal of United State ...
, they understood that American
close air support In military tactics, close air support (CAS) is defined as air action such as air strikes by fixed or rotary-winged aircraft against hostile targets near friendly forces and require detailed integration of each air mission with fire and moveme ...
and other strategic assets would no longer be available to support them in combat situations against the Taliban, and they became more willing to surrender to the attacking Taliban forces. Other Afghans allied with the
Afghan government The government of Afghanistan, officially called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is the central government of Afghanistan, a unitary state. Under the leadership of the Taliban, the government is a theocracy and an emirate with political powe ...
looked for ways to maneuver themselves into better positions, having accepted the impending collapse of the government. The Taliban extended their control over the provinces through a series of negotiated surrenders. After
Kunduz province Qunduz (Dari: ) is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the northern part of the country next to Tajikistan. The population of the province is around 1,136,677, which is mostly a tribal society; it is one of Afghanistan's most ethni ...
was captured, a days long negotiation between the tribes and the Taliban resulted in a surrender of the government-controlled base to the Taliban. Similar negotiations in
Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...
saw a wave of resignations in the provincial government, and then the same in
Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...
and
Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...
. Outgunned, Afghan
special forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equip ...
based in
Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...
fled. Police officers in Kandahar complained that they had not been paid for six months. In early September 2021 the
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
announced a new interim government. Among the appointees was Molvi
Mullah Yaqoob Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid (Pashto/, , ; born 1990) is an Afghan Islamic scholar, cleric, and Islamist militant who is the second deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting defense minister. He has been a deputy leader of the Taliban s ...
, Defence Minister, son of ex-Taliban leader
Mullah Omar Mullah Muhammad Omar (; –April 2013) was an Afghan Islamic revolutionary who founded the Taliban and served as the supreme leader of Afghanistan from Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (1996–2001), 1996 to 2001. Born into a religious family of ...
; Mullah Mohammed Fazil Mazloom Akhund, deputy to the Defence Minister; and Qari Farseehuddin, a Tajik, listed as Army Chief. the Islamic Emirate Army is subdivided into eight corps, mostly superseding the previous corps of the Afghan National Army. They are listed below. In November 2021
Mullah Yaqoob Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid (Pashto/, , ; born 1990) is an Afghan Islamic scholar, cleric, and Islamist militant who is the second deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acting defense minister. He has been a deputy leader of the Taliban s ...
, Acting
Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
, announced the new names and of the corps.
Badri 313 Battalion The Badri 313 Battalion ( ps, بدري ٣١٣ قطعه) is a unit of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The unit's name is closely associated with the Haqqani network, which has reportedly provided them with training. Elite Ta ...
, reported as operating in Kabul, is the only unit of the Taliban's armed forces that had the numerical designation 313.


Notes


References

* *

Self published English version of originally "Persian" work; see translator's note. * 288 pp.; £35.00. Due to its 'simplicity, which matched low technology and basic organization found among the human resources available' the Taliban's army from 1996 to 2001 was perhaps the most successful national army for Afghanistan (p. 121). * * * *


External links


How are the Taliban Organized?
- some details on the Military Commission. "the biggest and most significant Taliban commission." "The Taliban deputy chief, Mullah Yaqoob Umari, heads that commission with three deputies — Maulawi Sadar Ibrahim, Maulawi Abul Qayum Zakir, and Qari Fasihuddin. All three are prominent military commanders. Fasihuddin is the senior commander for nine northern provinces and is of Tajik ethnicity." {{DEFAULTSORT:Military History Of Afghanistan Military history of Afghanistan, Soviet foreign aid