The American invasion of Afghanistan was very similar to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in many ways. At first both were supported by the citizens of their respective countries. Both were expected to last only a couple of months to a year. Both encountered extreme opposition from CIA-trained terrorists. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan lasted over nine years. It began in December 1979 and lasted until February 1989. The mujahideen, US-trained rebel groups, as well as smaller rural groups, fought a guerrilla-style war against the army of the Soviet Union and the communist puppet government of ' Afghanistan. The mujahideen groups were supported by the United States and Pakistan, making it another Cold War proxy war. Nearly 2,000,000 civilians have been killed and millions of Afghans have fled the country as refugees, mostly to Pakistan and Iran ("Russia and Afghanistan"). Before the arrival of Soviet troops, the Afghan communist party, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, took power in a 1978 coup, called the Saur revolution, replacing President Mohammed Daoud Khan with communist leader Nur Mohammad Taraki. This new communist party initiated many reforms throughout the country which were extremely unpopular. These reforms were particularly unpopular among the traditional rural population and the already wealthy landowners. The harsh and brutal nature of the government was evident when it repeatedly repressed opposition, executed thousands of political prisoners, and ordered massacres against those who opposed the government. This led to the rise of armed anti-government groups, such as the mujahideen, and in April 1979 much of the country rebelled against the government. The government itself was split into two factions, and in September 1979 President Taraki was executed on the orders of his rival in his own party, Hafizullah Amin. This weakened the relationship with the Soviet Union, as Taraki had close ties to the Soviet Union. Ultimately, the Soviet government, on the orders of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Leonid Brezhnev, decided to send the army on December 24, 1979. After arriving in the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul, they organized a coup military state. . This coup resulted in the death of President Amin. The army then placed Babrak Karmal, a Soviet loyalist from a rival faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, in power. This deployment was called an “invasion” by the Western media and a “legitimate support intervention” (Trueman) by the Soviet Union and the new Afghan puppet government. In January 1980, foreign leaders of the Islamic Conference countries drafted a resolution calling for "the immediate, urgent and unconditional withdrawal of Soviet troops" from Afghanistan. (Morini) Subsequently the UN General Assembly also approved a protest resolution against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Because the Soviet Union did not heed their warnings, Afghan rebels began receiving large amounts of aid and military training in neighboring countries such as Pakistan and China, which was paid for by the United States and the Arab nations of the Persian Gulf. According to the National Security Archive, "the Central Intelligence Agency played a significant role in asserting U.S. influence in Afghanistan by financing military operations designed to frustrate the Soviet invasion of that country. The CIA's covert action.