Operation Typhoon is the last large-scale planned military operation of the Soviet troops in the Afghan war (1979-1989) . It was held from January 23 to 26, 1989 in the provinces of Parvan , Baghlan , Kunduz with the goal of "causing the greatest possible damage to the opposition forces in the central and northern provinces of the country" [1] .
Combined arms operation of units and divisions of the 108th and 201st motorized rifle divisions and other OKSVA units on a broad front of the provinces: Parvan , Baghlan , Kunduz with the aim of stabilizing the military-political situation in the north-eastern zone of the Republic of Afghanistan before the start of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the DRA .
The operation was commanded by Lieutenant General B.V. Gromov .
Content
Operation Progress
According to the memory of the Hero of the Soviet Union, General Valery Vostrotin [2] ,
We had an agreement with Ahmad Shah , who at that moment was popular among the people, that he would not interfere with the withdrawal of our troops, and we would not fight with him ...
They say that Shevardnadze insisted on the operation, and maybe Najibulla persuaded him? But in any case, the decision was made by Gorbachev , although the military command, including the commander of the army, the commanders of divisions and regiments were against the conduct of this operation. We were tasked with destroying the Ahmad Shah group just before leaving. But this is simply dishonorable if we had an agreement. <...> We just knew their work schedule, the location of their posts and the location of their night deployment. And then thirty minutes before they crawl out of their holes and start drinking tea, apply crazy artillery and air strikes at all these points. <...> We just meanly destroyed them.
In order to minimize losses of the Soviet Army, the fighting was carried out mainly in a non-contact way: massive bombardments and shelling were carried out on the positions of the militants of Ahmad Shah Masoud ; including tactical missiles .
Results
During the operation, only a few Soviet soldiers died; loss of opposition forces is impossible to determine. Several dozens of villages were destroyed, more than 1000 civilians died [3] . According to the chief military adviser in the Republic of Afghanistan, Colonel-General Mikhail Sotskov , during the fighting, Afghan women went out on the road and threw their dead children under the wheels and tracks of Soviet armored vehicles [4] .
After the operation, Ahmad Shah Masoud sent a letter to the Soviet ambassador to Afghanistan, Yuli Vorontsov , in which he stated [5] :
The brutal and shameful actions that your people carried out in Salang , in Jabal-u-Saraj and other areas during the last days of your stay in this country have destroyed all the recent optimism. On the contrary, it makes us believe that you want to impose a dying regime on our Muslim people in any way. This is impossible and illogical.
See also
- Yurasov, Oleg Aleksandrovich - Guard Airborne Major, who died during the operation and was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union
Notes
Literature
- Borovik A.G. Afghanistan: once again about the war. - M .: International Relations, 1990.