Battle of Jalalabad (1989)

Battle of Jalalabad
	Part of Afghan Civil War (1989–1992), Afghanistan–Pakistan border skirmishes
Date	5 March – end of June 1989
Location	Jalalabad, Afghanistan and Salang Pass
Result	Afghan government victory ISI failure to install a government under Gulbuddin's leadership; Hamid Gul sacked as head of the ISI; CIA takes on a more direct role; Gulbuddin Hekmatyar drops support for the "Afghan Interim Government"; Battle won without direct Soviet involvement;
Territorial; changes	ROA regains full control of Jalalabad from opposition forces
Belligerents
Afghanistan; Supported by: ; Soviet Union	Pakistan ISI; ; AIG HIG; NIFA; IULA; HIK; ; Al-Qaeda; Saudi Arabia Wahhabi volunteers; ; Supported by:; United States CIA; ;
Commanders and leaders
Afghanistan President Najibullah; Shahnawaz Tanai; Nur ul-Haq Ulumi; General Barakzai †; Mohammad Sardar Bajauri; Khushal Peroz; Abdul Rashid Dostum; Mohammed Ehsan; M. A. Delawar; Rasul Pahlawan; Haneef Atmar (WIA); ; Soviet Union Boris Gromov; ;	Pakistan Hamid Gul; Mirza Aslam Beg; Nasir Khan; Aitzaz Ahsan; ; HIG Gulbuddin Hekmatyar; ; NIFA Ahmed Gailani; ; IULA Abdul Rasul Sayyaf; ; Saudi Arabia ibn Al-Khattab; Osama bin Laden (WIA); ;
Units involved
Afghan Army 9th Infantry Division; 53rd Infantry Division; 55th Motorized Infantry Brigade; 10th Engineer-Sapper Regiment; 11th Infantry Division 66th Motorized Infantry Brigades; 71st Motorized Infantry Brigades; 81st Motorized Infantry Brigade; 11th Tactical Ballistic Missile Battalion; 91st Artillery Regiment; Unknown Mechanized battalion; Unknown Howitzer battalion; ; Afghan Commando Forces 37th Commando Brigade; ; ; Ministry of Interior 7th Operative Regiment (Sarandoy); 12th Mountain Battalion (Sarandoy); 8th Border Guard Brigade; 10th Border Guard Brigade; ; WAD 904th Battalion; ; Afghan National Guard 1st Motorized Infantry Brigade; 88th Heavy Artillery Regiment; 22nd Guards Regiment; ; Afghan Air Force 355th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment; 377th Helicopter Regiment; 373rd Air Transport Regiment; 12th Squadron; 99th Missile Brigade; ; Defense of the Revolution	Pakistan:; Pakistani Army 11th Infantry Division; ; Khyber Rifles (alleged by Kabul); Pakistani Mercenaries; ; AIG HIG: 5 battalions including a mechanized battalion (during the First Battle of Jalalabad Airport); ; ;
Strength
Afghanistan 15,000 soldiers.;	Pakistan 5,000 soldiers.; 2 Border Brigades; ; AIG HIG 3,300 soldiers.; 11 T-54Ms; 3 BMPs; 2 BTR-60PB; 2 BRDM-2; 55 mortars; 12 howitzers; 79 rocket launchers; ; HIK 500 soldiers.; ; NIFA 1,700 soldiers.; ; IULA 1,300 soldiers.; ; JNM 1,300 soldiers; ; HEI 1,500 soldiers; ; ; Saudi Arabia 1,300 soldiers.; ; Total Estimate: 14,000
Casualties and losses
Afghanistan 3,000 killed; 1 Antonov An-26 transport plane destroyed; 2 airport employees killed; ;	Pakistan; 1 killed (Mostly dressed as mujahideen, concealing their identity) AIG 10,000–15,000 killed; Heavy losses of armor; ; Saudi Arabia; ~100+ killed
	Civilian casualties:; 12,000–15,000 killed

The Battle of Jalalabad, also known as Operation Jalalabad or the Jalalabad War, occurred in the spring of 1989, marking the beginning of the Afghan Civil War.^[17] The Peshawar-based Seven-Party Union (an alliance of seven Afghan mujahideen groups also known as the Afghan Interim Government or "government-in-exile"),^[8]^[18] supported by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence, attacked Jalalabad, which was then under the administration of the Soviet-backed Republic of Afghanistan.^[8]^[11] Though the mujahideen quickly captured the Jalalabad Airport and Samarkhel, the former base of the Soviet 66th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, the Afghan Armed Forces recaptured them and claimed victory.^[19]

^ ^a ^b "War between Afghanistan Government and Mujahedin intensifies, UN watches helplessly". India Today. 15 April 1989. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ "AFGHANISTAN REBELS LOSE KEY BATTLE". Washington Post. 8 July 1989. Retrieved 20 December 2019. It also is a setback to the U.S.-Pakistani policy that supports the guerrillas in their fight against the Kabul government of President Najibullah.
^ ^a ^b ^c "The Lessons Of Jalalabad; Afghan Guerrillas See Weaknesses Exposed". New York Times. 13 April 1989. Casualties have been high on both sides. Government troops have been reduced by heavy guerrilla shelling and rocketing from 12,000 to 9,000, Western diplomats say....The Afghan Air Force is said to be taking advantage of the fact that, probably for the first time in the war, guerrilla forces are concentrated in static positions, which makes them easier bombing targets.
^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Afghanistan: The Forgotten War: Human Rights Abuses and Violations of the Laws of War Since the Soviet Withdrawal". Refworld. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "What Happened In The Battle Of Jalalabad?". rebellionresearch. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
^ Eur (2003). Far East and Australasia 2003. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 1-85743-133-2.
^ Hamid, Mustafa; Farrall, Leah (16 April 2015). The Arabs at War in Afghanistan. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1849045933.
^ ^a ^b ^c 'Mujahidin vs. Communists: Revisiting the battles of Jalalabad and Khost Archived 2018-08-02 at the Wayback Machine. By Anne Stenersen: a Paper presented at the conference COIN in Afghanistan: From Mughals to the Americans, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), 12–13 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
^ "A Tale of Two Afghan Armies | Small Wars Journal". smallwarsjournal.com. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
^ "Segment: Afghanistan". PBS NewsHour. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
^ ^a ^b Nasir, Abbas (18 August 2015). "The legacy of Pakistan's loved and loathed Hamid Gul". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 4 January 2017. His commitment to jihad – to an Islamic revolution transcending national boundaries, was such that he dreamed one day the "green Islamic flag" would flutter not just over Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also over territories represented by the (former Soviet Union) Central Asian republics. After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, as the director-general of Pakistan's intelligence organization, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate, an impatient Gul wanted to establish a government of the so-called Mujahideen on Afghan soil. He then ordered an assault using non-state actors on Jalalabad, the first major urban center across the Khyber Pass from Pakistan, with the aim of capturing it and declaring it as the seat of the new administration. This was the spring of 1989 and a furious prime minister, Benazir Bhutto – who was kept in the dark by ... Gul and ... Mirza Aslam Beg – demanded that Gul be removed from the ISI.
^ Cite error: The named reference Kaplan,1782 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Battle of Jalalabad - Operation Jalalabad - Pak-Afg war, 1989, 13 October 2021, retrieved 6 July 2023
^ Battle of Jalalabad - Operation Jalalabad - Pak-Afg war, 1989, 13 October 2021, retrieved 6 July 2023
^ Barfield, Thomas (19 December 2023). Afghanistan : A cultural and political history. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691145686.
^ Afghanistan - Rebels Without A Cause (1989), retrieved 8 September 2023
^ Battle of Jalalabad - Operation Jalalabad - Pak-Afg war, 1989, 13 October 2021, retrieved 6 July 2023
^ Eur 2003, p. 94
^ "66th Independent Motorised Rifle Brigade". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 12 August 2024.

[indiatoday.in-1] "War between Afghanistan Government and Mujahedin intensifies, UN watches helplessly". India Today. 15 April 1989. Retrieved 12 July 2023.

[WAPO-2] "AFGHANISTAN REBELS LOSE KEY BATTLE". Washington Post. 8 July 1989. Retrieved 20 December 2019. It also is a setback to the U.S.-Pakistani policy that supports the guerrillas in their fight against the Kabul government of President Najibullah.

[nyt11-3] "The Lessons Of Jalalabad; Afghan Guerrillas See Weaknesses Exposed". New York Times. 13 April 1989. Casualties have been high on both sides. Government troops have been reduced by heavy guerrilla shelling and rocketing from 12,000 to 9,000, Western diplomats say....The Afghan Air Force is said to be taking advantage of the fact that, probably for the first time in the war, guerrilla forces are concentrated in static positions, which makes them easier bombing targets.

[Refugees-4] Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Afghanistan: The Forgotten War: Human Rights Abuses and Violations of the Laws of War Since the Soviet Withdrawal". Refworld. Retrieved 12 July 2023.

[TANAI-5] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o "What Happened In The Battle Of Jalalabad?". rebellionresearch. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2019.

[eur-65-6] Eur (2003). Far East and Australasia 2003. Routledge. p. 65. ISBN 1-85743-133-2.

[7] Hamid, Mustafa; Farrall, Leah (16 April 2015). The Arabs at War in Afghanistan. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-1849045933.

[Stenersen-8] 'Mujahidin vs. Communists: Revisiting the battles of Jalalabad and Khost Archived 2018-08-02 at the Wayback Machine. By Anne Stenersen: a Paper presented at the conference COIN in Afghanistan: From Mughals to the Americans, Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), 12–13 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2018.

[9] "A Tale of Two Afghan Armies | Small Wars Journal". smallwarsjournal.com. Retrieved 28 June 2023.

[10] "Segment: Afghanistan". PBS NewsHour. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 21 May 2024.

[Abbas2-11] Nasir, Abbas (18 August 2015). "The legacy of Pakistan's loved and loathed Hamid Gul". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 4 January 2017. His commitment to jihad – to an Islamic revolution transcending national boundaries, was such that he dreamed one day the "green Islamic flag" would flutter not just over Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also over territories represented by the (former Soviet Union) Central Asian republics. After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, as the director-general of Pakistan's intelligence organization, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate, an impatient Gul wanted to establish a government of the so-called Mujahideen on Afghan soil. He then ordered an assault using non-state actors on Jalalabad, the first major urban center across the Khyber Pass from Pakistan, with the aim of capturing it and declaring it as the seat of the new administration. This was the spring of 1989 and a furious prime minister, Benazir Bhutto – who was kept in the dark by ... Gul and ... Mirza Aslam Beg – demanded that Gul be removed from the ISI.

[Kaplan,1782-12] Cite error: The named reference Kaplan,1782 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[13] Battle of Jalalabad - Operation Jalalabad - Pak-Afg war, 1989, 13 October 2021, retrieved 6 July 2023

[14] Battle of Jalalabad - Operation Jalalabad - Pak-Afg war, 1989, 13 October 2021, retrieved 6 July 2023

[15] Barfield, Thomas (19 December 2023). Afghanistan : A cultural and political history. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691145686.

[16] Afghanistan - Rebels Without A Cause (1989), retrieved 8 September 2023

[17] Battle of Jalalabad - Operation Jalalabad - Pak-Afg war, 1989, 13 October 2021, retrieved 6 July 2023

[eur-94-18] Eur 2003, p. 94

[19] "66th Independent Motorised Rifle Brigade". www.ww2.dk. Retrieved 12 August 2024.

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