Mujahideen
무자헤딘
Islamist irregular armed fighters who coalesced after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Some 300 guerrilla units, divided along tribal, ethnic, and sectarian lines, waged a guerrilla war against Soviet forces and the Afghan communist government with support from the US (CIA), Pakistan (ISI), and Saudi Arabia. The Soviets called them dushmany ('enemies'). After the 1989 withdrawal they continued the civil war, took Kabul in 1992, then quickly fractured into a second civil war from whose wreckage the Taliban and al-Qaeda emerged.
Related historical events
Sources
- Wikipedia (EN) Afghan mujahideen: origins, factions (Peshawar Seven, Tehran Eight), ethnic/tribal organization, external support, post-1989 civil war
- Wikipedia (RU) афганские моджахеды: идеология, тактика, вооружение, Пешаварская семёрка, советское прозвище «душманы»
- ebsco.com EBSCO Research Starter: Mujahideen organization along ethnic/tribal lines, ~300 guerrilla units, CIA Stinger missiles from 1986, small mobile 10–20 man units