213. Article in the President’s Daily Brief1
USSR-AFGHANISTAN: Situation report
The Soviets have stepped up their military operations in northern and eastern Afghanistan over the past week, but they have been unable to stem the crumbling of the Afghan Army and continue to have difficulty maintaining security in Afghan cities.
Soviet ground forces, led by new field commanders appointed last weekend and supported by fighter-bombers and helicopter gunships, are conducting sweeps in several provinces. The operations appear to be most intensive in Baghlan Province. The Soviets have also moved reinforcements, including tanks and helicopter gunships, into Jalalabad and have launched counterinsurgency operations in the area. They have bombed rebel positions in several provinces surrounding Jalalabad.
The Afghan Army, meanwhile, has continued to deteriorate, and there is growing evidence that the Soviets no longer trust the Afghans. Soviet and Afghan units have clashed recently near Kabul, Jalalabad, Nahrin, and other towns (your Brief of Thursday). The Afghan division stationed in Paktia Province has suffered heavy desertions, refused to fight, and may be negotiating to join the resistance.
The continued unraveling of the Afghan Army, together with popular antipathy toward the Soviets, has resulted in a serious breakdown in security in several cities. The situation in Jalalabad reportedly has reached crisis proportions; insurgents control much of the city and also control a checkpoint on the highway linking Jalalabad and Kabul. In Qandahar, a recent Afghan military message said that the city was “lost to the Muslims” and could be secured only by a large-scale attack. Soviet reinforcements have taken up positions on the outskirts of Qandahar but have made no attempt to secure the city. Civil unrest has also been reported in Herat.
The security situation in Kabul has also deteriorated. Soviet soldiers have stepped up their patrols and are enforcing a longer curfew. Many residents believe the Soviets are looting shops during the curfew. The police force in the city appears to have disintegrated, and students at Kabul University recently were arrested because they were planning to demonstrate against the Soviets and the Afghan Government. [4 lines not declassified]
- Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of the Director of Central Intelligence, Job 81B00401R: Subject Files of the Presidential Briefing Coordinator for DCI (1977–81), Box 8, Afghanistan Crisis—February 1980, PDBs. Top Secret; For the President Only. The full version of this President’s Daily Brief was not filed with this collection. The article printed here was found in this form.↩