Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan

Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan
Part of the Afghan conflict and the Cold War
Final column of Soviet troops, consisting of BTR-80s, entering the Uzbek SSR by way of the Hairatan Bridge (15 February 1989)
Date 15 May 1988 – 15 February 1989 (9 months) Location Central Asia and South Asia Result Afghan Mujahideen victory End of the Soviet–Afghan War Beginning of the Afghan Civil War
Belligerents
Soviet Union  Afghanistan	Afghan Mujahideen Jamiat-e Islami Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin Hezb-e Islami Khalis Supported by:  Pakistan  United States  United Kingdom  Saudi Arabia
Commanders and leaders
Boris Gromov Valentin Varennikov	Ahmad Shah Massoud Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Casualties and losses
523 killed[1]	Unknown

Pursuant to the Geneva Accords of 14 April 1988, the Soviet Union conducted a total military withdrawal from Afghanistan between 15 May 1988 and 15 February 1989.^[2] Headed by the Soviet military officer Boris Gromov, the retreat of the 40th Army into the Union Republics of Central Asia formally brought the Soviet–Afghan War to a close after nearly a decade of fighting. It marked a significant development in the Afghan conflict, having served as the precursor event to the First Afghan Civil War.

Mikhail Gorbachev, who became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in March 1985, began planning for a military disengagement from Afghanistan soon after he was elected by the Politburo. Under his leadership, the Soviet Union attempted to aid the consolidation of power by the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA); the Afghan president Mohammad Najibullah was directed by the Soviets towards a policy of "National Reconciliation" through diplomacy between his PDPA government and the rebelling Islamists of the Afghan mujahideen.

In the context of the Cold War, the dynamic of the Soviet Union–United States relationship showed signs of improvement, as it had become increasingly clear to the Soviet government that propping up Najibullah's government in Kabul would not produce sufficient results to maintain the PDPA's power in the long term. Following the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, Gorbachev's government continued to militarily and politically support Najibullah against the Afghan opposition, though this aid was abruptly halted due to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. The ensuing collapse of Najibullah's government in April 1992 triggered the Second Afghan Civil War, in which the Pakistan-backed Taliban was victorious.