December 23: Today is the anniversary of the occupation of Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on December 1979, by Soviet forces.

Soviet forces invade Afghanistan on December 23^rd, 1979

The Afghan War (1978-1992), also known as Russian-Afghan War, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, was the first phase of widespread conflict in the Afghan civil war.

When the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan in December 1979, it set the stage for a decade-long quagmire, similar to the American War in Vietnam.

The conflict lasted between December 23, 1979, and February 15, 1989, when the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (RDA) supported by the Soviet Army against insurgents Mujahideen, or Afghan guerrilla groups supported by numerous foreign countries, with the United States, who gave them vast quantities of weapons and money.

Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan | 1979 | The Russian Army Against the Afghan Insurgents.

The conflict is considered as part of the Cold War. The Cold War was a political, economic, social, military, informative and even sporting clash started after the Second World War, which origin is usually placed in 1947, during the post-war tensions, and lasted until the dissolution of the Soviet Union (beginning of perestroika in 1985, the Berlin wall fell in 1989, and coup in the USSR, 1991), between the Western-capitalist blocs led by the United States, and Eastern-communist, led by the Soviet Union. The reasons for this confrontation were essentially ideological and political.

UK discussed plans to help mujahideen weeks after Soviet invasion of Afghanistan | UK news | The Guardian.