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Night of <strong>the</strong> Flying Hooligans 128 <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”
Chapter 8 Night of <strong>the</strong> Flying Hooligans: Soviet Army Aviation <strong>and</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force Operations during <strong>the</strong> War in Afghanistan 1979-1989 Thomas Withington The reasons for President Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev’s invasion of <strong>the</strong> USSR’s rugged neighbour are long <strong>and</strong> complex. In December 1978, <strong>the</strong> Afghan government of President Noor Mohammed Taraki had signed a Treaty of Friendship, Good Neighbourliness <strong>and</strong> Co-operation with <strong>the</strong> Soviet Union. Each country provided positive security assurances to <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r – agreeing to send military assistance should <strong>the</strong> need arise. Hafizullah Amin had been joint Prime Minister of Afghanistan alongside Babrak Kamal, seen as less of a People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan firebr<strong>and</strong> than Amin, <strong>and</strong> leader of <strong>the</strong> moderate “Parcham” PDPA faction. Yet Amin controlled <strong>the</strong> powerful Marxist PDPA “Khalq” faction <strong>and</strong> used this power to become sole Prime Minister by sending Karmal into exile in <strong>the</strong> USSR <strong>and</strong> eventually performing a Palace Coup against Taraki, killing him <strong>and</strong> allowing Amin to declare himself President of Afghanistan. On his assumption of power, he continued with <strong>the</strong> ill-advised <strong>and</strong> haphazard attempts at agricultural l<strong>and</strong> reform commenced by Taraki. What particularly irked farmers were his plans to rein-in <strong>the</strong> feudal power that l<strong>and</strong>owners enjoyed in <strong>the</strong> countryside. Meanwhile, in <strong>the</strong> cities, <strong>the</strong> urban middle class grumbled about social reforms which were increasingly slow to materialise. It did not take long for those in <strong>the</strong> countryside to dust off <strong>the</strong>ir Lee Enfield rifles <strong>and</strong> begin open rebellion against <strong>the</strong> Kabul government <strong>and</strong> its representatives, notably <strong>the</strong> DRA armed forces. Amin’s behaviour sent a chill through <strong>the</strong> Kremlin’s corridors. The last thing that Brezhnev wanted was a restive Afghanistan on Soviet sou<strong>the</strong>rn borders. Moscow had always lost sleep over Afghanistan, seeing its internal difficulties as a cause of potential unrest among <strong>the</strong> USSR’s own sou<strong>the</strong>rn Muslim populations. Amin was not following <strong>the</strong> script. He was performing radical reforms too quickly. The result was not only causing domestic disquiet but jeopardising <strong>the</strong> loyalty of <strong>the</strong> Afghan armed forces. As <strong>the</strong> rebellion in <strong>the</strong> countryside intensified <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> chattering classes expressed <strong>the</strong>ir dissatisfaction, Amin responded with a harsh crackdown, jailing, torturing <strong>and</strong> killing thous<strong>and</strong>s. Moscow watched in horror as its new sou<strong>the</strong>rn ally came off <strong>the</strong> rails, but Brezhnev did not have a simple choice; <strong>the</strong> invasions of Hungary <strong>and</strong> Czechoslovakia in 1956 <strong>and</strong> 1958 respectively had bought his predecessors widespread international condemnation. Invading Afghanistan would certainly earn him similar treatment. Preparations Armeiskaya Aviatsiya (AA – Soviet Army Aviation) was able to see Afghanistan’s <strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror” 129
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