The 1973 coup that send Zahir Shah into exile in Italy proved to be the begin-
ning of Afghanistan’s most recent descent into tragedy. Daoud at first turned
Afghanistan leftward but was himself pushed from power five years later by local com-
munist leaders under the strong influence of Moscow. After these leaders turned against
one another in 1979, the Soviet Union intervened to save the teetering communist
regime on its southern flank.
In what turned out to be the last gasp of the cold war, Kremlin leaders sent tens
of thousands of troops into Afghanistan, where they became mired in a hopeless con-
flict to save an unpopular government. The United States and an unlikely array of
allies, including China, India, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, provided weapons and logis-
tical support to thousands of Afghan guerrillas who battled the Soviet army to a stand-
566 AFGHANISTAN
JalalabadRa pia r
rIndusRiverAm
uD
ar
yaKhyber
PassKondozHeratBagram
JalalabadGhazniKandaharMazar-i-
SharifQuettaLahoreKarachiRawalpindiPeshawarHyderabadKabul
Is lamabadTURKMENISTANUZBEKISTANINDIACHINAIRANTAJIKISTANAFGHANISTANPAKISTANArabian Sea 200 KM200 Miles00Afghanistan and Pakistan.