Herat Uprising (1979)

The Herat Uprising was an anti Pashtun uprising and mutiny that took place in and around the city of Herat, Afghanistan in March 1979. It was an uprising against the new Pashtun dominated Communist government, and the rebels managed to seize the city with Iranian support for a week before it was taken back by the government.

Background

The uprising was largely triggered around the anger of failed land reform, which saw many peasants become poorer. In addition, anger at the inclusion of communist propaganda as a part of literacy programs (justified) and the creation of schools that had mixed-gender classes (unjustified). As such, the uprising was a mixture of anger at authoritarianism, left-wing values and economic injustice.

Events

The uprising began on the 15th of March, as people overwhelmed the police and attacked government buildings, the army was sent in and soon defected. The city held, but there was extensive looting and the killing of suspected communist sympathisers (particulary teachers) and Russians. The government disguised its soldiers as fellow rebels, and snuck into the city as it was bombed and attacked from the inside, with between 3,000 and 25,000 being killed in the fighting. Ironically, one of the leaders of the uprising was a Maoist. 4,000 Iranian Soldiers disguised as rebels were also involved in the uprising.

Aftermath

Although seemingly a minor event, this was one of the main factors behind the USSR intervening in Afghanistan, which permanently changed Afghanistan forever and arguably contributed to the fall of the USSR. In addition, Iran and the DRA's relationship reached a new low with the DRA threatening to cut off water supply to Iran and Iran threatening the DRA of using their Soviet ally to intimidate Iran.