Red Army intervention in Afghanistan | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Basmachi movement | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
Supported by: ![]() | ![]() | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
![]() | ![]() | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
3 fatalities
| 839 soldiers killed Large property losses |
The Red Army intervention in Afghanistan in 1930 or the Second Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan of 1930 was a special operation of the Central Asian Military District command to destroy the Basmachi economic bases and exterminate their manpower in Afghanistan. The operation was carried out by parts of the combined cavalry brigade under the command of the brigade commander Yakov Melkumov. [1] [2]
In 1930, the Central Asian Military District command developed a plan to attack the Basmachi bases and destroy their manpower in northern Afghanistan, where active fighters against the Soviet government emigrated from Turkestan in the 1920s and systematically violated the Soviet-Afghan border. In addition, as early as the end of 1929, Soviet intelligence received reliable information from the recently defeated Emir of Afghanistan Habibullāh Kalakāni (Bacha-ye Saqao) about the planned tearing away of northern Afghanistan and the formation of a separate state on its territory, headed by Ibrahim Bek. [3] At a meeting of elders in Kunduz in March 1930, the Prime Minister of Afghanistan, Mohammad Hashim Khan, on behalf of the King of Afghanistan, Mohammed Nadir Shah, who had taken power from Habibullah, again demanded that Ibrahim Bek lay down his arms. However, the latter stated: [4]
My weapon is not directed against Afghanistan. It is ours, we got it in battle.
These circumstances to a great extent bothered the Afghan government, and it agreed to force intervention by the USSR in their country.
Before crossing the border at the Aivaj post with the soldiers of the Red Army, explanatory work was carried out on the need for their invasion of the territory of a neighboring state. The purpose of the campaign was explained, and the possibility of causing any damage to the indigenous population of Afghanistan was strictly excluded. The results of the operation were to be “our gift” to the 16th Party Congress. [5]
At the end of June 1930, the combined cavalry brigade of the Red Army under the command of the brigade commander Yakov Melkumov (Hakob Melkumyan, known in the Basmachi environment as Yakub Tura), crossed the Amu Darya, entering Afghanistan. [4] Not meeting on its way opposition from the local authorities and the regular Afghan army, the Soviet detachment advanced 50–70 km inland. [6] The local population, which was clearly dissatisfied with the emigrants (Basmachis and their families), who, in their opinion, occupied the “best lands”, was friendly towards the Red Army units. Local residents often acted as guides. [7] Unit commanders, in turn, as noted in the report: "They strictly controlled that during the operation the fighters did not accidentally“ touch ”the farms and property of the indigenous people, and did not affect their national and religious feelings". [8] Representatives of the local administration assisted the Soviet detachment when crossing the Khanabad River, as well as in the acquisition of supplies and fodder. Payment for receiving the latter was carried out in a currency convenient for the local population. [2]
Upon learning of the Red Army's invasion of Afghanistan, Ibrahim Bek initially wanted to fight, but after specifying the enemy’s strength, he hastily left for the mountains, while informing the naibul-hukuma (governor-general) of the Qataghan-Badakhshan Province, Mir-Muhammed-Safar Khan, to attack of the Red Army. Safar Khan, in turn, sent a letter to the Soviet commanders on 23 June, reproaching them "for a sudden border crossing" and urging them to return "to their territory", but this did not impede the further operation of the latter. The next day, Ibrahim Bek received an order from Safar Khan to "join the battle with the Reds". However, seeing that the local authorities "do not interfere with the Russians", the Lokai at the assembled council decided that the Afghans were deliberately trying to push them against the Red Army. Another prominent kurbashi was Utan Bek, who was aware of his agents on the border as well as Ibrahim Bek went to the mountains. As a result of this, units of the Red Army, as noted in the report: "did not have to meet organized resistance and they eliminated individual gangs of 30–40 dzhigits, individual basmachi and their accomplices".
During the punitive raid, Ak-Tepe (White Hill) and Ali-Abad villages in Kunduz Province were burned and destroyed, except for that part of the village where the native Afghans lived. Also, during the raid for 35 km, all villages and yurts in the river valley were destroyed. [9] [7] Up to 17,000 cartridges were blown up, up to 40 rifles were seized, emigrants' grain stocks were burned, cattle were destroyed and partially stolen. The Soviet detachment took 200 camels, 80 horses and 400 rams with them. [1] The local Afghan population did not leave their yurts and remained untouched. The total losses of the Basmachis and their accomplices amounted to 839 people killed, including the head of the religious sect Pir-Ishan and the ideological inspirers of the Basmachi by the kurbashi Ishan-Palvan and Domullo-Donahan. [2] [7] The losses of the Soviet side amounted to one drowned at the crossing and two wounded. [1]
The Basmachi movement was an uprising against Imperial Russian and Soviet rule in Central Asia by rebel groups inspired by Islamic beliefs.
Habibullah Kalakani, derided by the Pashtuns as "Bacha-ye Saqao", was the ruler of Afghanistan from 17 January to 13 October 1929, as well as a leader of the Saqqawists. During the Afghan Civil War (1928–1929), he captured vast swathes of Afghanistan and ruled Kabul during what is known in Afghan historiography as the "Saqqawist period". He was an ethnic Tajik. No country recognized Kalakani as ruler of Afghanistan.
Red Army Military Law Academy is a military higher educational institution of the Soviet Army that was designed to train officers for military tribunals and military prosecutor's offices, being active from November 5, 1939 to May 18, 1956. It was formed the base of the Military Law Department of the All-Union Law Academy. It was then transformed into the Military Law Department of the Lenin Military-Political Academy, and was eventually inherited by the Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Ibrahim Bek or Ibrahim Beg was a leader of the liberating movement, partisan of turkestan who fought against red army. He was a member of the Uzbek Lakai tribe in Eastern Bukhara and led an organized resistance against the Soviet military in the early 1920s.
Vitaliy Markovich Primakov was a Soviet revolutionary, military leader of the Red Army, and commander of the Red Cossacks. He was a close friend of the Kotsiubynsky family and a son-in-law of Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky.
The 86th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army during the Interwar period, World War II, and the early postwar period, formed twice.
The 24th Cavalry Division was a cavalry division of the Red Army during the interwar period and World War II. It was a prewar division assigned to the Transcaucasus Military District on 22 June 1941. The division was assigned there after participating in the Winter War.
The 13th Rifle Corps was a rifle corps of the Red Army, first formed in 1922.
The 62nd Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Union's Red Army, formed four times and active during World War II and the postwar period. The division was formed in 1936 and fought in the Winter War and Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina. It was destroyed during the Battle of Kiev in summer 1941. The division was reformed in November 1941. It fought in the defense against the German offensive Case Blue during the summer of 1942. After suffering heavy losses, it was withdrawn from combat but was sent back to fight in the Battle of Stalingrad in November. The division suffered heavy losses and was disbanded on 2 November. The division was reformed a third time from a rifle brigade in April 1943. It fought in Operation Suvorov, Operation Bagration, the East Prussian Offensive and the Prague Offensive. It was disbanded in the summer of 1945. The 62nd was reformed a fourth time by renaming the 360th Rifle Division, but became the 108th Motor Rifle Division in 1957.
The 2nd Cavalry Corps were a corps of the Red Army, formed twice. Originally formed in 1922, the corps served in Ukraine during the Interwar period and fought in the Soviet invasion of Poland. After the German invasion of Soviet Union, the 2nd Cavalry Corps fought in Ukraine and then near Moscow in November 1941. It was then renamed the 1st Guards Cavalry Corps. Recreated in December 1941, it fought in the Second Battle of Kharkov and was disbanded in July 1942.
The 4th Cavalry Corps was a cavalry corps of the Soviet Red Army, formed three times.
The 19th Rifle Corps was a corps of the Soviet Red Army.
The 10th Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War which existed from October 3, 1918, until July 1920. It was formed from the troops operating in the area of Tsaritsyn and Kamyshin. On May 4, 1920, it was renamed the 10th Terek Army. It was dissolved in July 1920. It was part of the Southern Front, the South-Eastern Front and the Caucasian Front.
The 1st Army was a field army of the Red Army during the Russian Civil War. The 1st Army was formed twice. The first formation was between the beginning of March 1918 and May as a reaction to the Austro-German occupation of Ukraine. The second formation was created on June 19, 1918, as a part of the Eastern Front and from August 15, 1919 as a part of the Turkestan Front. The Army was disbanded in January 1921.
The siege of Khiva was a military operation between 19 and 24 January 1924 by Basmachi insurgents to conquer the city of Khiva from the Red Army.
The Marshal Semyon Timoshenko NBC Protection Military Academy is a military university in Kostroma in the Kostroma Oblast training officers for service in the Russian NBC Protection Troops of the Russian Ground Forces. It was established in 1932 in Moscow and is named after Semyon Timoshenko. Its duties are for the training of officers and NCOs in chemical warfare and defence. It has now opened its doors to engineering cadets as well.
The Red Army intervention in Afghanistan in 1929 also known as the First Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan of 1929 was a special operation aimed at supporting the ousted king of Afghanistan, Amanullah Khan, against the Saqqawists and Basmachi.
Yakov Arkadievich Melkumov was a Soviet military commander of Armenian origin. He fought in the First World War and the Russian Civil War. He particularly distinguished himself during the Russian Civil War fighting against the Basmachi movement on the Turkestan Front. He is known for commanding the unit that killed the former Ottoman general who had commanded the Basmachi rebels, Enver Pasha, who was one of the main architects of the Armenian genocide.
The Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Soviet Navy was the central military-political organ of administration in the Soviet Armed Forces in 1919 through 1991 and controlled by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Shir Muhammad-bek Gazi, also known as Mahmud-Bek also known under the nickname Korshirmat was a prominent figure of the Basmachi Movement in exile since 1923, the first head of the Turkestan Union during the Great Patriotic War with the support of the Abwehr to restore the insurrectionary movement in Turkestan.