The origins and outcomes of the Soviet-Afghan War

Brief traceing the origins and outcomes of the Soviet-Afghan War. Despite having failed to implement a sympathetic regime in Afghanistan, in 1988 the Soviet Union signed an accord with the United States, Pakistan, and Afghanistan and agreed to withdraw its troops. In the brutal nine-year conflict, an estimated one million civilians were killed, as well as 90,000 Mujahideen fighters and 18,000 Afghan troops. The country was left in ruins. Several million Afghans had either fled to Pakistan for refuge or had become internal refugees.  The Soviet withdrawal was completed on February 15, 1989, and Afghanistan returned to nonaligned status.