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Afghan wars


Series of wars in Afghanistan during the 19th, 20th, and early 21st centuries. In the 19th century Britain twice invaded Afghanistan (the first and second Anglo-Afghan Wars; 1839 – 40 and 1878 – 80). The British were unable to fully subdue the country, and the third Anglo-Afghan War (1919) led to its full independence. The outbreak of civil war in 1978 led to an invasion by the Soviet Union the following year (the Afghan War). For the next 10 years the Soviets supported the communist government against a coalition of Islamic insurgents, the mujahideen, who toppled the regime in 1992. A group of disaffected fighters known as the Taliban had taken control of most of the country by 1996. The ensuing stalemate was broken in 2001 when the U.S. overthrew the Taliban for supporting international terrorism.

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British History: Afghan wars

From 1807, when the armies of Tsar Alexander I reached its northern borders, Afghanistan became an uneasy neutral zone between the Russian and the British Indian empires around which ‘the Great Game’ was played. The British launched three military interventions—in 1838-42, 1878-81, and 1919-21. None was successful. The first Afghan War against Dost Mohammed saw a British expeditionary force capture the capital, Kabul. However, surrounding tribes forced a desperate retreat through mountainous country and only one member of the original army of 16, 000 lived to cross the Khyber pass back into India. The second war was precipitated by Lord Lytton's forward policies, which subsequently were repudiated by Gladstone's incoming 1880 government. The third war arose when Habibullah Khan demanded recognition by the British of the absolute independence of his kingdom. British arms, once more, found the Afghan terrain and peoples intractable. Afghanistan's sovereignty at international law was formally recognized on 21 November 1921.

 
 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
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