| 1975 Panjshir Valley uprising | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part ofAfghanistan–Pakistan border conflicts | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Afghanistan | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Mohammad Daoud KhanAbdul Karim MustaghniFaiz MohammedGhulam Haidar RasuliMohammad Aslam Watanjar |  Burhanuddin RabbaniAhmad Shah MassoudGulbuddin Hekmatyar Zulfikar Ali BhuttoGhulam Jilani KhanNaseerullah Khan Babar | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Afghan guerrilla troops | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | 5,000+ | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Light | Heavy | ||||||
The1975 Panjshir Valley uprising (Pashto:۱۴۵۴ د پنجشېر د درې پاڅون,Dari:قیام دره پنجشیر ۱۳۵۴) was part of a larger Islamist uprising led byJamiat-e Islami againstthe government ofDaoud Khan, and was the first everISI operation that took place inAfghanistan.[11][12] It was in "retaliation toRepublic of Afghanistan’s proxy war and support to the militants againstPakistan".[13][14]
The Republic of Afghanistan support to anti-Pakistani militants had forced then-Prime Minister of PakistanZulfiqar Ali Bhutto andNaseerullah Khan Babar, then-Inspector General of theFrontier Corps in NWFP (nowKhyber Pakhtunkhwa), to adopt a more aggressive approach towards Afghanistan. As a result, ISI, under the command of Major GeneralGhulam Jilani Khan set up a 5,000-strong Afghan guerrilla troop, which would include influential future leaders likeGulbuddin Hekmatyar,Burhanuddin Rabbani andAhmad Shah Massoud,[15] to target the Afghan government, the first large operation, in 1975, being the sponsoring of an armed rebellion in thePanjshir valley.[16] The 1975 rebellion, though unsuccessful, shook Daoud Khan and made him realize that a friendly Pakistan was in his best interests.[16][10] He started improving relations with Pakistan and made state visits there in 1976 and 1978. During the 1978 visit, he agreed to stop supporting anti-Pakistan militants and to expel any remaining militants in Afghanistan to the dismay of theKhalqists who would overthrow Daoud that same year in theSaur Revolution.[17]
In 1973, former Prime MinisterMohammed Daoud Khan was brought to power in acoup d'état backed by thePeople's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, and theRepublic of Afghanistan was established. These developments gave rise to anIslamist movement opposed to the increasingcommunist and Soviet influence over Afghanistan.[18] During that time, while studying atKabul University, Massoud became involved with theMuslim Youth (Sazman-i Jawanan-i Musulman), the student branch of theJamiat-e Islami (Islamic Society), whose chairman then was the professorBurhanuddin Rabbani.Kabul University was a center for political debate and activism during that time.[19]
Infuriated by the arrogance of hiscommunist peers andRussian professors, a physical altercation between Massoud and his Russian professor led Massoud to walk out of the university, and shortly after,Kabul. Two days later, Massoud and a number of fellow militant students traveled toPakistan where, goaded by another trainee of thePakistaniInter-Services Intelligence (ISI),Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Massoud agreed to take part in a coup againstDaoud with his forces rising up in thePanjshir and Hekmatyar's elsewhere.[19][15] In July 1975, Massoud, with help from thePakistani intelligence, led the first rebellion of Panjshir residents against the government of Daoud Khan.[20] While the uprising in thePanjshir began saw initial success, even taking the military garrison inRokha, the promised support from Kabul never came and the rebellion was suppressed by the444th Commando Battalion sending Massoud back intoPakistan (after a day hiding in Jangalak) where he would attend a secret,paramilitaryISI training center inCherat.[21] Dissatisfied, Massoud left the center and returned toPeshawar where he committed himself to personalmilitary studies. Massoud readMao Tse-Tung's writings on theLong March, ofChe Guevara's career, the memoirs ofGeneral de Gaulle,General Võ Nguyên Giáp,Sun Tzu'sArt of War, and an unnamed handbook oncounterterrorism by an American general which Massoud called "the most instructive of all".[21][19]
As part of the operation, smaller Islamist detachments were sent to the nearby areas ofLaghman,Nangarhar andBadakhshan; these were unsuccessful. Fighters either faced defeat after theAfghan Commando Forces were sent to the three provinces to curb the uprising or were arrested upon arrival, with neither local nor army support.[22][23] TheAfghan Republican Army did not have to be called in to suppress any of the uprisings.[24]
After this failure, a "profound and long-lasting schism" within the Islamist movement began to emerge.[18] The Islamic Society split between supporters of the more moderate forces around Massoud andRabbani, who led theJamiat-i Islami, and more radical Islamist elements surroundingHekmatyar, who founded theHezb-i Islami.[19] The conflict reached such a point thatHekmatyar reportedly tried to killMassoud, then 22 years old.[25][18]
The 1975 rebellion, though unsuccessful, madeDaoud Khan realize that a friendly Pakistan was in his best interests.[16][10] He started improving relations with Pakistan and made state visits there in 1976 and 1978. During the 1978 visit, he agreed to stop supporting anti-Pakistan militants and to expel any remaining militants in Afghanistan.[17]
The era of ISI action in Afghanistan now began. A first large scale operation in 1975 was encouragement of large scale rebellion in the Panjshir valley.
The president Khan revived adversarial stance not only toward Pakistan, but to the sponsor, USSR. First Daoud Khan set off proxy war in Pakistan, but in retaliation faced growing Islamic fundamentalists movement within Afghanistan
By 1976, while proxy guerilla war with Pakistan, Daoud faced rising Islamic fundamentalists movement led by exiled cleric aided openly by Pakistani prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
The era of ISI action in Afghanistan now began. A first large scale operation in 1975 was encouragement of large scale rebellion in the Panjshir valley.
The president Khan revived adversarial stance not only toward Pakistan, but to the sponsor, USSR. First Daoud Khan set off proxy war in Pakistan, but in retaliation faced growing Islamic fundamentalists movement within Afghanistan
By 1976, while proxy guerilla war with Pakistan, Daoud faced rising Islamic fundamentalists movement led by exiled cleric aided openly by Pakistani prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
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