Editing Soviet–Afghan War (section)

== Foreign involvement ==
{{main|Foreign involvement in the Soviet–Afghan War}}

The [[Afghan mujahideen]] were backed primarily by [[Pakistan]], the [[United States]], [[Saudi Arabia]],{{refn|<ref name="SaudUSA">{{cite journal |last1=Hegghammer |first1=Thomas |title=The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters: Islam and the Globalization of Jihad |journal=[[International Security (journal)|International Security]] |date=2011 |volume=35 |issue=3 |page=62 |doi=10.1162/ISEC_a_00023 |s2cid=40379198 |quote=The United States and Saudi Arabia did provide considerable financial, logistical, and military support to the Afghan mujahideen.}}</ref><ref name="britannica2001"/><ref name="britannica1978"/><ref name="Brzezinski">{{cite web|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-17/brzezinski1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000829032721/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/coldwar/interviews/episode-17/brzezinski1.html|archive-date=29 August 2000|title=Interview with Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski-(13/6/97).|access-date=2 October 2014}}</ref><ref name="Wilson">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/charlie-wilson-congressman-whose-support-for-the-mujahideen-helped-force-the-soviet-union-out-of-afghanistan-1898180.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/charlie-wilson-congressman-whose-support-for-the-mujahideen-helped-force-the-soviet-union-out-of-afghanistan-1898180.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Charlie Wilson: Congressman whose support for the mujahideen helped force the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan|work=The Independent|access-date=2 October 2014|location=London|first=Rupert|last=Cornwell|date=13 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="SaudiArabia">{{cite web|url=http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/saudi-arabia-future-afghanistan/p17964|title=Saudi Arabia and the Future of Afghanistan|work=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=2 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007011621/http://www.cfr.org/afghanistan/saudi-arabia-future-afghanistan/p17964|archive-date=7 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} and the [[United Kingdom]] making it a [[Cold War]] [[proxy war]].<ref>{{cite web |date=25 May 2023 |title=Eight "Hot Wars" During the Cold War |url=https://world101.cfr.org/understanding-international-system/conflict/eight-hot-wars-during-cold-war |access-date=2 October 2023 |website=World 101 |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations}}</ref> Out of the countries that supported the Mujahideen, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia offered the greatest financial support.<ref name="Wilson" /><ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/rd/17741.htm|title="Reagan Doctrine, 1985," United States State Department|publisher=State.gov|access-date=20 February 2011}}</ref><ref name="Timeline">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7883532.stm|title=Timeline: Soviet war in Afghanistan|access-date=2 October 2014|work=BBC News|date=17 February 2009}}</ref> However, private donors and religious charities throughout the [[Muslim world]]—particularly in the Persian Gulf—raised considerably more funds for the Afghan rebels than any foreign government;<ref name="shichor">{{cite book |last=Frederick Starr |first=S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GXj4a3gss8wC&pg=PA157 |title=Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7656-3192-3 |pages=157–158}}</ref>{{sfn|Kepel|2002|p=143}}<ref>According to Milton Bearden, former CIA chief in charge of the Afghan department, "The Saudi dollar-for-dollar match with the US taxpayer was fundamental to the success [of the ten-year engagement in Afghanistan]" (from [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/binladen/interviews/bearden.html Milton Bearden] Interview. PBS Frontline.)</ref> [[Jason Burke]] recounts that "as little as 25 per cent of the money for the Afghan jihad was actually supplied directly by states."<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Jason Burke|last=Burke|first=Jason|title=Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror|publisher=[[I.B. Tauris]]|year=2004|isbn=978-1-85043-666-9|page=59|title-link=Al-Qaeda: Casting a Shadow of Terror}}</ref> Saudi Arabia was heavily involved in the war effort and matched the United States' contributions dollar-for-dollar in public funds. Saudi Arabia also gathered an enormous amount of money for the Afghan mujahideen in private donations that amounted to about $20 million per month at their peak.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ricks |first1=Thomas |title=The war against the Soviets in Afghanistan was run by Zia, not by us |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/07/14/riedel-the-war-against-the-soviets-in-afghanistan-was-run-by-zia-not-by-us/ |website=FOREIGN POLICY |date=14 July 2014 |publisher=THE SLATE GROUP |access-date=25 March 2020}}</ref><ref name="562k" />

Other countries that supported the Mujahideen were [[Egypt]] and [[China]].{{sfn|Crile|2003|pp=131–132}} [[Iran]] on the other hand only supported the Shia Mujahideen, namely the Persian speaking Shiite [[Hazaras]] in a limited way. One of these groups was the [[Tehran Eight]], a political union of Afghan Shi'a.<ref name="ruttig">Ruttig, T. ''Islamists, Leftists – and a Void in the Center. Afghanistan's Political Parties and where they come from (1902–2006)'' [http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_9674-544-2-30.pdf]</ref>{{sfn|Goodson|2011|p=139}} They were supplied predominantly by the [[Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps]], but Iran's support for the Hazaras nevertheless frustrated efforts for a united Mujahideen front.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Parker |first1=John W |title=Persian Dreams: Moscow and Tehran Since the Fall of the Shah |date=2009 |publisher=Potomac Books, Inc. |isbn=978-1-59797-646-6 |pages=94–95 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g5CATmJzU0wC&pg=PT60}}</ref>