Foreign Relations of the United States, 1977–1980, Volume XII, Afghanistan

346. Telegram From the Embassy in Afghanistan to the Department of State¹

Kabul, January 20, 1981, 1331Z

109. Subject: (U) Situation in Afghanistan. Ref: Kabul 70.²

1. (C—Entire text)

2. Summary: Stringent security measures were again imposed in Kabul last week in the wake of an upsurge of violence in the city and heightened rumors of further trouble. An incident involving the Pol representative may have been responsible for the sudden initiation of police checks of diplomatic vehicles during the week. (Several Embassies plan to protest police excesses during those checks, and all Embassies have advised personnel to be home earlier.) Some foreign residents are accelerating their departures, resulting in heavily booked outbound flights after the termination of a charter for an Austrian 707 aircraft. Electrical outages have continued in Kabul, though a Western diplomat saw no damage to major facilities during a drive up from Peshawar last week.

3. Further reports of fighting in the countryside have filtered into Kabul, many maintaining that the Afghan and Soviet forces have suffered fresh drubbings. Sources also claim that Soviet troops killed another family in Ghazni and that they continue to sell military equipment on the black market. Afghan soldiers are continuing to protest extensions of military service in a variety of ways, though some of them may merely be resisting being sent to fight in the provinces. Some soldiers report that Soviet troops are again grumbling about being misled—specifically by Brezhnev—about their mission in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the Karmal regime announced the release of more political prisoners and inaugurated an Afghan-Soviet friendship hall. MFA still can tell us nothing about the reported death of an American “military advisor” in December.³

4. On the diplomatic front, the DRA condemned the current Islamic Conference meeting in Saudi Arabia and repeated its amnesty offer to Afghan refugees.⁴ DRA media also carried recent Soviet allegations of U.S. aggression against Iran. Several Afghans we have spoken with have ridiculed Pakistani President Zia for perceiving Soviet “flexibility” on negotiations with Afghanistan, and friendly diplomats have again noted that the Soviets and Karmal consider his party to be a government. End summary.

[Omitted here is the body of the telegram.]

Mills

1. Source: National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D810029–0396. Confidential; Immediate. Sent for information Immediate to Islamabad and New Delhi (also for RSS). Also sent for information to Ankara, Beijing, Bonn, Canberra, Colombo, Dacca, Jidda, London, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, USICA, USNATO, USUN, CINCEUR, CINCPAC, CINCUSAREUR, and CINCUSAFE (military addressees also for POLADs).
2. Telegram 70 from Kabul is dated January 13. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, P810102–2344, D810017–1088)
3. Telegram 341423 to Kabul, December 30, notified the Embassy of news stories by United Press International and United News of India about an “American military advisor” who was killed near the Iranian border. The Department requested further information, but the Embassy was unable to verify the information. (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D800615–0304)
4. The Islamic Foreign Ministers met in Saudi Arabia on January 17 prior to the Summit. Telegram 424 from Amman, January 20, relayed the views of the Pakistani Ambassador to Jordan (who commented on recently concluded meetings between Jordanian leaders and Zia), that Pakistan planned to “press hard” at the Summit both for a strong condemnation of the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and for the appointment of a UN Special Representative. The telegram further noted that the Pakistani Ambassador was “not sanguine about chances of success, since the Islamic participants will focus so heavily on other issues.” (National Archives, RG 59, Central Foreign Policy File, D810029–0240)