<P> The Soviet -- Afghan War lasted over nine years , from December 1979 to February 1989 . Insurgent groups known collectively as the mujahideen , as well as smaller Maoist groups , fought a guerrilla war against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government , mostly in the rural countryside . The mujahideen groups were backed primarily by the United States , Saudi Arabia , and Pakistan , making it a Cold War proxy war . Between 562,000 and 2,000,000 civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees , mostly to Pakistan and Iran . </P>
<P> The Soviet -- Afghan War lasted over nine years , from December 1979 to February 1989 . Insurgent groups known collectively as the mujahideen , as well as smaller Maoist groups , fought a guerrilla war against the Soviet Army and the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan government , mostly in the rural countryside . The mujahideen groups were backed primarily by the United States , Saudi Arabia , and Pakistan , making it a Cold War proxy war . Between 562,000 and 2,000,000 civilians were killed and millions of Afghans fled the country as refugees , mostly to Pakistan and Iran . </P>
who helped the afghanis fight against the soviet union in their war of the 1980s
who helped the afghanis fight against the soviet union in their war of the 1980s
the United States Saudi Arabia Pakistan
the United States Saudi Arabia Pakistan