1979 Herat uprising

1979 Herat uprising
Part of the 1979 uprisings in Afghanistan

A diorama depicting the insurgency in Herat Military Museum.
Date15–20 March 1979
Location
Herat Province, Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
Result

DRA victory

  • Uprising put down
  • Soviet Union steps up military assistance to Afghan government
  • DRA regains control of the Herat Province in Afghanistan from opposition
Belligerents

Supported By:

Soviet Union		 Jamiat-e Islami
 Iran[1]
Commanders and leaders
Nur Muhammad Taraki
Hafizullah Amin
Shahnawaz Tanai
Maj. Gen. Sayyed Mukharam
  • Ismail Khan
  • Sardar Jagran
  • Rasul Baloch
  • Alauddin Khan
  • Kamar-i Dozd
  • Shir Aga Shongar
  • Mohammed Anwar
  • Shamshir Khan
  • Haji Qasim
  • Mohammed Omar
  • Major Dawoodkhel
Units involved
  • 4th Armoured Brigade
  • 15th Armoured Brigade
  • 5th Heavy Artillery Regiment
  • 20th Infantry Regiment
  • 355th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment
  • 17th Division
    • 177th Air Defence Company
    • 70th Infantry Regiment
    • 11th Heavy Artillery Regiment
    • Strength
    Afghanistan: 300+ Jamiat-e Islami: 20,000[2]
     Iran: 4,000+[1]
    Casualties and losses
    25,000 civilians dead
    Herat in 1969.

    The Herat uprising (Dari: قیام هرات), locally known as the Uprising of 24th Hūt (Dari: قیام بیست و چهار حوت) was an insurrection that took place in and around the city of Herat in western Afghanistan, across several days in March 1979. It included both a popular uprising and a mutiny of ethnic Tajik Afghan Army troops against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA). The communist regime at first appealed to its Soviet allies for help, but the Soviet leadership declined to intervene. After the insurgents seized and held the city for about a week, the regime was able to retake it with its own forces, and the subsequent aerial bombardment and recapture of Herat left 3,000 to 25,000 of its inhabitants dead.[3] It was the worst outbreak of armed violence in the country in 50 years, and was the deadliest incident in the 1978-1979 period following the Saur Revolution and before the start of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.[4]

    1. ^ a b "APPENDIX D.", Afghanistan, University of California Press, pp. 321–326, 2023-09-01, doi:10.2307/jj.5973009.25, ISBN 978-0-520-91914-3, retrieved 2023-09-26
    2. ^ "Failings of Inclusivity: The Herat uprising of March 1979". Afghanistan Analysts Network - English (in Pashto). 2015-03-15. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
    3. ^ Roy, p.108
    4. ^ "Failings of Inclusivity: The Herat uprising of March 1979". Afghanistan Analysts Network - English (in Pashto). 2015-03-15. Retrieved 2024-02-14.