First Published: Unity, Vol. 5, No. 2, February 12-25, 1982.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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After over two years of occupation and brutal warfare in Afghanistan, the most the Kremlin can say for the Babrak Karmal regime it installed in December 1979 is that it still sits in Kabul. It cannot put down the mujahideen guerrilla resistance. It cannot administer the country’s affairs. It is even wracked by internal factionalism that includes opposition to Soviet domination.
With better arms and experience, the resistance now controls more territory, competes with the government for control of major cities, and can even strike in the heart of Kabul.
On the political front, most of the major rebel groups formed an alliance last November. While the alliance has not yet made a big impact on the small guerrilla commands inside Afghanistan, it paves the way for larger, more unified actions in the future. The alliance has also taken the message of a free Afghanistan to the rest of the world.
The resistance involves a broad range of organizations. Guerrilla groups fighting inside Afghanistan include Marxist-Leninists, nationalists, Moslem fundamentalists and groups based among the Nuristanis, Hazaras, Kunars and other ethnic groups. But they all are united in opposing the subservience of the present regime to a foreign power and the Soviet occupation of their country.
Proving that this isn’t a forgotten war, the UN General Assembly last November voted 116 to 23 for the “immediate withdrawal of the foreign troops from Afghanistan” and for the right of Afghans “to determine their own form of government and to choose their own economic, political and social system free from outside intervention.” The European Parliament passed a resolution marking this March 21 (the Afghan New Year) as Afghanistan Day in support of national independence.
In an unspoken admission of failure, the Soviet Union moved 10,000 more troops across the border into Afghanistan early this year. There are now about 95,000 Russian soldiers “backing up” some 25,000 Afghan army troops. This is not enough to crush the 100,000 full-time mujahideen who are supported by the majority of the population. Soviet casualties are estimated upwards from 5,000.
So for the time being, Moscow can only expect to control the major cities and their supply lines. Thanks to Soviet air power and tanks, the Babrak regime has superior fire power. Several hundred people were killed last month when Soviet forces bombarded Kandahar market places with ground-to-ground missiles.
But this awesome destructive power cannot guarantee victory. Ninety percent of the country’s districts are controlled by the mujahideen according to a recent defector, a former planning director in the premier’s office. The mujahideen have set up their own civil administration’ in Hazarajat in central Afghanistan and other liberated areas.
While resistance morale is high, pro-government sentiment is at an all-time low. The Afghan army has been reduced by desertion to 25,000 from 75,000 two years ago. Many of these 25,000 are draftees or have had their service forcibly extended. In January, hundreds of pedestrians in Kabul streets were rounded up and herded into Kabul Stadium where army officers took their pick.
“We have refused to take up arms to fight against our fellow countrymen,” said one conscript who compromised by taking a desk job. Others, once in the field, flee as soon as their officer is shot.
Even the ruling People’s Democratic Party is torn by infighting between the dominant Parcham faction and the Khalqi group. The Khalqis, supported by Moscow before the 1979 invasion which seated Babrak’s Parcham group, are struggling for their own position. Many government officials resent Soviet control of government ministries, even though the regime wouldn’t last long without the Soviet presence.
The U.S.S.R. invaded Afghanistan in 1979 mainly because of the country’s strategic location near the Persian Gulf. Once there, however, they have proceeded to exploit the country’s natural resources including copper, iron, uranium and especially natural gas which they buy at below market prices.
Land reform is a sham; rules issued last August grant exemption from land confiscation in return for support for the regime. These exemptions favor individuals in the clergy, military and tribal leadership. Even exaggerated claims from government officials admit land reform operates in only a quarter of the country’s districts. Half the country’s schools are closed.
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There is an uphill battle ahead for the mujahideen, however. They still suffer from a lack of unity and organization. And the Soviet Union will not easily give up this important outpost, close as it is to the Indian Ocean and to Persian Gulf oil fields. A defeat would be a bigger blow to its tarnished reputation than the original invasion.
But the liberation fighters are determined. “We are against any sort of talks with the Russians,” says one. “The Russians have destroyed our country, have committed a lot of crimes in Afghanistan. How can we compromise with the Russians?”