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Originally Posted by nidakhan777 View Post
can anyone post a outline for Afpak relations.. thats afghan's policy n from afghan's point of view.
if a ques is about af pak relations we dont have to write pak afghan only we have to mold our answer acc to afghans policy n their relation with pak. for that i need a rough idea. if anyone can share?

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Here is the Timeline of Af-Pak Relaitons

September 30, 1947
Afghanistan is the only country to vote against the admission of Pakistan to the United Nations.
1949
The cold war between Afghanistan and Pakistan continues. Political circles in Kabul and the Afghan government insist that Pakistan should constitute the North-West Frontier Province as an independent Pathan republic, or at least allow the Pathans of the tribal areas on the Pakistan side of the Durand Line to opt for Kabul. The British government categorically refuses the Afghan request that it should intervene. The press and wireless of Kabul continue to pour out propaganda against Pakistan. The Pakistan government refrains from reprisals and trade between the two countries goes on as before; in fact economic cooperation is offered. Afghanistan is in the grip of an economic crisis. The Persian lamb trade, a vital element in Afghan finance, is languishing; Indian import duties paralyze the export of fruit.
June 1949
The Afghan parliament cancels all treaties which former Afghan governments have signed with the British, including the Durand Treaty, and thus proclaims that the Afghan government does not recognize the Durand Line as a legal boundary between Afghanistan and Pakistan
January 4, 1950
The year begins auspiciously by the signature at New Delhi, India, of a treaty of friendship with India. The treaty provides that each signatory should be able to establish trade agencies in the other's territory. It will last for five years in the first instance, and at the end of that period it will be terminable at six months' notice. This friendship with India does not find reflection in Afghanistan's relations with Pakistan. Pakistan feels that Afghanistan is too tolerant of the so-called independent "Pashtunistan" movement, which has for its aim the creation of a Pashtu-speaking enclave and therefore a new state to be carved out of Pakistan territory.
September 1950
Disturbances are caused by an apparent invasion of Pakistan near the Bogra pass. The Afghan government promptly denies that the invaders have comprised Afghan troops. The prime minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, in disclosing that a protest has been sent to Kabul on what he describes as the culminating incident in a number of minor frontier violations, declares that Pakistan is willing to discuss economic and cultural questions of common concern to the two countries. He nevertheless deprecates any action which might disturb the peace of the strategic frontier area.
1951
As in the previous year, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan are not happy, because of charges and countercharges regarding border incidents and, on the Pakistan side, particularly because of the alleged encouragement by Afghanistan of the so-called "Pashtunistan" movement.
January 1951
A visit of the Afghan prime minister, Shah Mahmud Khan, to New Delhi gives an indication of the cordial relationship maintained with India. Shah Mahmud is entertained by the government of India and a tribute to Indo-Afghan relations is paid by Chhakravarthi Rajagopalachari, Indian home minister
September 5, 1951
The Afghan prime minister, who is paying yet another visit to Delhi, is invited to address members of the Indian parliament, and he reaffirms his hope that the close and sincere relations already existing between Afghanistan and India will remain for the benefit of world peace. At a press conference Shah Mahmud Khan stresses the friendliness of Afghan policy toward Pakistan, and maintains that in supporting the "Pashtunistan" movement Afghanistan is not animated by hostility to Pakistan.
October 16, 1951
Liaquat Ali Khan, prime minister of Pakistan, is assassinated, calling forth from Kabul a sympathetic message and a tribute to his ability. The Pakistan government on its side is careful to stress the point that, although the assassin is stated to be of Afghan origin, there is no sinister significance in that fact, especially as he has been an exile in Pakistan for some time.
January 6, 1952
Shah Wali Khan, Afghan ambassador to the United Kingdom, says in an interview with The Hindu that the area of Pakhtunistan includes the states of Chitral, Dir, Swat, Bajaur, Tirah, Waziristan, and Baluchistan. "The right of 8,000,000 Pakhtuns to enjoy freedom cannot be ignored," he adds.
November 26, 1953
It is obvious that Soviet diplomacy has decided to support Afghanistan against Pakistan by fanning the Afghans' fear that their neighbour will grow stronger because of U.S. military assistance.
1955
Pakistan-Afghan relations remain marred by the continued support given by the Kabul government to the Pashtu (or Pakhtu) people of the former North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan in their so-called demand for self-determination. The Kabul government does not recognize the 1893 Durand Line as the Afghan-Pakistani international frontier.
March 29, 1955
The prime minister broadcasts a speech over Kabul radio which amounts to open incitement of the Afghan people against Pakistan. This speech is followed in the course of the next two days by demonstrations in Kabul, Kandahar, and Jalalabad during which Pakistani missions are wrecked and looted and Pakistani flags are pulled down. The government of Pakistan is, therefore, compelled to close its diplomatic and consular missions and withdraw their staffs. A "general mobilization" of Afghan armed forces is ordered in Kabul at the beginning of May, in reply to which Gen. Mohammad Ayub Khan, Pakistani minister of defense and commander in chief, comments that if any inroads are made into Pakistan territory Afghanistan will be taught a lesson to be remembered for life. Attik Khan Rafik, Afghan minister to Karachi, is recalled to Kabul. Mikhail V. Degtyar, Soviet ambassador to Kabul, is reported to have promised Afghanistan "total military aid" in the event of Pakistani aggression. This acute tension results in offers of mediation by Islamic powers, but Gen. Iskandar Mirza, Pakistani minister of the interior, makes it clear that his country will maintain the Durand Line. On June 30, when opening the session of the Afghan National Assembly, King Zahir pledges his country's support for the idea of an autonomous Pashtunistan.
September 13, 1955
The Afghan foreign minister, Mohammad Naim Khan, rehoists the Pakistan flag on the Pakistani embassy in Kabul with full ceremonial honours and in the presence of Col. A.S.B. Shah, the Pakistani ambassador. Chaudhry Mohammad Ali, the Pakistani premier, says on September 15, in the Constituent Assembly, that relations between the two countries have taken a turn for the better. This improvement, however, does not continue for long. When, on September 30, the Pakistani Constituent Assembly passes a bill merging western Pakistan into a single province, the Afghan government protests against this violation of the rights and wishes of the Pashtu people. Attik Khan Rafik is again recalled from Karachi (October).
Beginning of November 1955
A few thousand armed Afghan tribesmen enter Pakistan along a 160-km stretch of frontier about 480 km northeast of Quetta. A Pakistani army spokesman says that militarily there is no threat in the presence of these tribesmen. He adds, however, that there is evidence that this so-called invasion was inspired by Kabul with the moral and material support of the U.S.S.R. and India. The Afghan ambassador to Cairo, Salaheddin Salgooky, declares that his country will seek Soviet or Czechoslovak arms if the West fails to supply them.
August 1956
Maj.Gen. Iskandar Mirza, the president of Pakistan, stays four days in the Afghan capital. It is believed that both Menderes and Mirza discussed at Kabul the possibility of Afghanistan's joining the Baghdad Pact, the problems of the Pathan or Pakhtu tribesmen, and their aspiration for a "Pakhtunistan" state.
November 1956
Mohammad Daud, the Afghan prime minister, visits Karachi, Pakistan. No mention is made thereafter in Afghan official statements of the "Pakhtunistan" question, that is, Afghan plans to create a separate state for Pakhtu-speaking peoples in Pakistan.
June 8-11, 1957
H.S. Suhrawardi, the prime minister of Pakistan, visits Kabul and, as a result of his conversation with Mohammad Daud, the two governments agree to restore full diplomatic relations between the two countries.
February 1, 1958
King Mohammad Zahir Shah pays an official visit to Pakistan. He also visits India in February. In his speech at the banquet given by Pres. Rajendra Prasad, the king speaks of the "traditionally neutral policy" of his country and of the "lasting friendship" between India and Afghanistan.
May 30, 1958
In Kabul, the representatives of Pakistan and Afghanistan sign an agreement guaranteeing reciprocal transit rights across each other's territory.
February 1959
The Afghan prime minister visits New Delhi.
September 1959
Jawaharlal Nehru, the Indian prime minister, pays a return visit to Kabul.
January 1960
Mohammad Naim visits Karachi, Pakistan. In late February he holds a press conference at Kabul, in which he complains of the "completely negative attitude" of Pakistan toward the Afghan claim to Pashtunistan (the former North-West Frontier Province in which, according to Kabul, 7,000,000 Pathan tribesmen are anxious to join Afghanistan).
March 2-5, 1960
Nikita Khrushchev, the prime minister of the U.S.S.R., visits Kabul. In a joint statement Khrushchev and Mohammad Daud, the Afghan prime minister, declare that in order to establish peace in the Middle East "the application of the principle of self-determination" is the reasonable way to solve the problems of Pashtunistan.
Late August 1961
Due to the controversy over Pakhtunistan (or Pathanistan; the Afghan demand for self-determination for about 7,000,000 members of border tribes), the Pakistan government closes Afghan consulates and trade missions in its territory. Afghanistan thereupon sets September 6 as a deadline for Pakistan to rescind the order. Pakistan does not. On September 3 Afghanistan seals its side of the border and on September 6 breaks relations. The consequences are far-reaching, as Afghanistan then demands that all trade, including U.S. economic aid, be channeled through Soviet access routes. Sixty percent of the Afghan population is Pakhtun (Pathan) and Afghanistan has steadfastly refused to accept the old Afghan-British Durand line of 1893 as a suitable permanent boundary between the Pathans of Afghanistan and of Pakistan, while Pakistan refused to draw a new frontier. Throughout 1961 the two nations exchanged charges, Afghanistan saying that Pakistan brutally suppressed tribal leaders and bombed them with U.S.-made aircraft, while Pakistan alleged that Afghan armed forces, using Soviet equipment, constantly violated the border. The Afghan representative to the UN, A.R. Pazhwak, strongly defended the concept of Pathan self-determination.
January 22, 1962
The United States announces that Afghanistan has agreed to open the border for eight weeks following January 29 in order to allow aid supplies to enter from Pakistan. Meanwhile the U.S. ambassador, Henry A. Byroade, continues efforts to open the border from Pakistan; the only alternative routes for aid supplies are from the north via Soviet rail connections, or through Iran at a cost of $70 per ton extra. In April the Afghan government signs an agreement with the Iranian government for use of the route through Iran.
January 1962
The Iranian ambassador to Pakistan, Hassan Arafa, proposes that the best solution to Afghanistan's problems lies in the formation of an Iran-Afghan-Pakistan confederation. Kabul refuses to consider the proposal. During July and early August the shah of Iran visits both Pakistan and Afghanistan in an effort at conciliation.
Late July 1963
In pursuance of better relations, the Afghan-Pakistan frontier is reopened, largely through the peace efforts of the shah of Iran.
July 1, 1964
Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan, president of Pakistan, visits Kabul briefly where he meets with King Mohammad Zahir. For the first time in several years relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan are relatively amicable following the decision of the government of Afghanistan to deal with the Pakhtunistan dispute only through diplomatic negotiations and to carry on normal relations with Pakistan in other respects. 1965
The improvement of relations with Pakistan continues, and although toward the end of 1964 the loya jirga (the traditional Grand Council of the nation, superseded under the new constitution) passed a formal resolution in favour of the creation of Pakhtunistan, the violent propaganda that had offended Pakistan so seriously died down. Trade between the two countries greatly increases, as does the flow of visitors and tourists. When war between India and Pakistan breaks out in the autumn, Afghanistan maintains a friendly neutrality and does not add to Pakistan's difficulties.
April 4-8, 1966
The former friction with Pakistan has somewhat ceased.
1967
Relations with Pakistan ease further, along with an increase in trade.
October 11, 1967
Prime Minister Maiwandwal resigns for health reasons, the king asking Abdullah Yaqta, minister of state, to assume the premiership ad interim pending the formation of a new government. Maiwandwal's resignation is widely regretted, since he eased relations with Pakistan and gave a new impetus to the growth of trade between the two countries.
1969
India's desire for close relations is shown by a visit from Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and by Indian aid in the restoration of the Bamiyan antiquities. Relations with Pakistan and with its new government after the fall of Pres. Mohammad Ayub Khan are correct rather than cordial because of continued Afghan support for the promotion of "Pakhtunistan."
August 1971
The government takes the unprecedented step of launching a worldwide appeal for food after the most serious drought in the country's history. The economic life of the country is severely affected; it is feared that almost three-quarters of the nation's sheep, the main meat staple, might have perished. Large numbers of people cross into Pakistan and Iran in search of food. The response, especially from Pakistan and Iran, is generous. The government undertakes a massive campaign of relief operations to deal with the emergency, but is hampered by the traditionally independent attitude of remote outlying areas.

1972
Domestic politics are overshadowed by economic hardship resulting from the worst drought the country has ever experienced. The lack of rain over large areas in 1971 has decimated the sheep population, which constitute the principal source of protein for a meat-eating nation; food crops also suffered severely. The year 1972 brings little relief, and the flow of people into Pakistan and Iran in quest of food continues. Both these countries again respond generously to the government's appeal for external assistance, and later in the year UN agencies give substantial help.

July 1973
King Zahir Shah, whose personality has for many years ensured an element of continuity, absents himself in Rome for eye treatment. While he is out of the country, on July 17, Daud Khan, who has long resented his exclusion from power, takes advantage of some discontent over promotions in the armed forces, along with student unrest and resentment among the educated classes against unemployment, to depose the king in a virtually bloodless coup. Leftist military officers and civil servants of the Parcham ("Flag," or "Banner") Party, including Air Force Col. Abdul Qadir, assist in the overthrow. Daud Khan abolishes the constitution of 1964 and establishes the Republic of Afghanistan with himself as president as well as foreign minister. He announces his adherence to Afghanistan's traditional policy of nonalignment, but is an acknowledged friend of the Soviet Union and a firm supporter of secessionist movements in the Pashto-speaking areas of Pakistan, the North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan - an outlook that seems likely to revive the friction with Pakistan that marked his earlier period of power. Zahir Shah formally abdicates on August 24, and remains in exile in Europe.

September 20, 1973
Radio Kabul announces the discovery of an allegedly Pakistan-backed plot to overthrow the new regime.The Kabul press accuses Pakistan of fomenting these conspiracies, but no solid evidence for the accusation is forthcoming. In view of Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's desire for friendly relations with Afghanistan, it seems more likely that the conspiracies were the products of domestic discontent.

Beginning of June 1974
President Daud pays a three-day official visit to Moscow, during which he signs an extensive economic cooperation agreement with the Soviet Union.With Pakistan are his relations difficult; he continues to support schemes for the creation of an independent Pakhtunistan and a new "Greater Baluchistan" that, if realized, would give Afghanistan a corridor through friendly territory to the coast of the Arabian Sea. His representatives raise these questions at numerous international gatherings, including the Islamic summit held at Lahore, Pakistan, early in the year, but they receive little or no encouragement. However, this in no way diminishes Daud's determination to persist with his plans.

1975
The proscription by Pakistan of the National Awami Party, whose activities in Baluchistan and the North-West Frontier Province were favoured by Afghanistan, further worsens relations between the two countries. Daud Khan's efforts to mobilize international opinion against Pakistan's action meets with a cool reception, however
April 1976
Floods and earthquakes devastate the provinces of Herat, Helmand, and Kandahar. Pakistan sends a message of sympathy and contributes substantially to relief operations, indicating a marked relaxation of the previously mounting tension between the two countries, largely due to persuasion by Pres. Nikolay Podgorny of the Soviet Union and the shah of Iran.
June 7-11, 1976
Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan visits Kabul. There, both countries undertake to follow principles of respect for territorial integrity and noninterference in internal affairs set forth by the 1955 Bandung Conference of Asian and African nations.
August 20-24, 1976
Daud Khan pays a return visit to Islamabad. He and Bhutto reach tentative agreement on a solution to the Pashtunistan problem.
March 2, 1977
Agreement on the resumption of air communications between Afghanistan and Pakistan is reached, as relations continue to improve. The idea of a "Pakhtun" state is not abandoned, but support for it is less strident.
September 19, 1979
A general amnesty is declared in an ineffective effort to placate the Muslims. This is followed by an administrative purge and a further attempt at reconciliation with Islam. Kabul radio accuses Pakistan and Iran of sending armed infiltrators to undermine the government. Pakistan is also charged with arming the Afghan refugees and tribal rebels in the border areas with the help of Saudi Arabia, China, and the U.S. Afghan refugees in Pakistan are at one time estimated to number 140,000.
December 27, 1979
Amin is overthrown and killed in a coup backed by Soviet troops.At year's end reports from Kabul indicate that some 40,000 Soviet troops are fanning out through the country in an apparent attempt to crush the Muslim rebels. On December 31 U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter declares it is imperative that world leaders immediately make it clear to the Soviet Union that its actions will have "severe political consequences."
January 29, 1980
An emergency session of the Conference of Islamic States, convening in Islamabad, Pakistan, condemns "Soviet military aggression against the Afghan people" and demands that all Soviet troops be withdrawn immediately. The foreign ministers also suspend Afghanistan from their organization and ask that their respective governments sever diplomatic relations with it.
May 1980
Attempts to bring about a peaceful solution of the Afghan crisis and Soviet withdrawal from the country are made by the Islamic Conference in Islamabad, Pakistan. No headway can be made, however. Pakistan refuses to have any direct talks with the Karmal regime, since this would involve recognition of the Soviet-backed government. Karmal insists that all subversive activities against his country must stop before any international discussion on the crisis could be held.
September 1980
Outside estimates place the number of Afghans seeking shelter in Pakistan at over 900,000.
November 1980
It is disclosed that Egypt is sending arms to the mujaheddin.
March 1981
According to UN statistics, 1.7 million Afghans have so far fled to Pakistan and some 400,000 to Iran in order to escape the strife in their country.
August 25, 1981
Karmal announces a new set of proposals for negotiations with Pakistan and Iran, either separately or together; this is a slight departure from proposals he made in May and in December 1980. The democratic revolutionary government of Afghanistan, he says, will be prepared to hold tripartite talks with Pakistan and Iran under the aegis of UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim or his representative. The government wants a political settlement that would ensure "a full and reliable end to armed and other interference from outside into Afghanistan's internal affairs, and the creation of conditions under which such interference would be excluded in future." The Soviet troops could withdraw if such international guarantees were given and implemented. Iran, itself going through a period of internal chaos, reacts negatively to the Kabul proposal, while Pakistan at first considers it "flexible" and later rejects it. Pakistan maintains its earlier stand that any direct negotiation with a representative of the Karmal government would amount to recognition of the regime, contrary to the ruling of the Islamic Conference.
September 1981
During the General Assembly session, UN Secretary-General Waldheim and Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, UN special representative for Afghanistan, have separate discussions with the Afghan foreign minister, Shah Mohammad Dost, and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Agha Shahi. Efforts to bring the two parties together with or without the presence of a UN representative do not succeed, though it is agreed that Pérez de Cuéllar will continue his mediation efforts. The New York meetings are a consequence of a November 1980 General Assembly resolution that called for withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan and appealed to all parties to create conditions for a political solution.
1982
Fighting between the mujaheddin and the Afghan Army backed by Soviet forces is less widespread as the government appears to be in better control of the insurgency problem in general. Karmal, whose position has been considered shaky, is also firmly in command as his Parcham faction of the ruling PDPA manages to eliminate most of the pro-Khalq elements from the government and the party. Diego Cordovez, UN special representative for Afghanistan, visits the capitals of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran to convince their leaders of the necessity to find a peaceful settlement. Clashes between insurgents and security forces are mainly centred on the Panjsher Valley, about 70 km northeast of Kabul. Bitter fighting takes place in this region during June-August. The Afghan Army and the Soviets commit a large number of ground troops supported by helicopter gunships and MiG jet fighters to dislodge rebels from the valley. Rebel sources in Pakistan admit that the rebels have to take refuge in nearby mountains but insist that they are preparing to fight back. As a result of large-scale operations by Soviet and Afghan forces, Kandahar, in the south, also seems more secure. Western news agency reports estimate casualties in fighting since the Soviet intervention at 20,000 Afghan and 10,000 Soviet troops. Little is known about rebel losses.
June 1982
Afghan Foreign Minister Shah Mohammad Dost and his Pakistani counterpart, Sahabzada Yaqub Khan, meet in Geneva, while Iran backed out. Cordovez says that at the meeting he broadly outlined the principles of an agreement in separate talks with Khan and Dost and that he also kept Iran informed of progress. Both sides, Cordovez maintains, accepted the main agenda items: withdrawal of troops, resettlement of an estimated three million refugees, and international guarantees on noninterference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan. Khan comments that talks are "still at a preliminary stage" and reiterates Pakistan's refusal to hold direct talks with Kabul until Pakistan recognizes the Kabul government.
1983
The Muslim insurgency remains locked in military stalemate against Soviet and Afghan troops. The government controls the cities, while the guerrillas control the countryside. There are conflicting reports on the success of the regime in either neutralizing the insurgency movement or crushing it with the aid of some 110,000 Soviet troops. Reports on the war are sketchy and probably biased, since they are based on accounts given either by Pakistan-based rebel groups or by journalists taken on conducted tours by the government. President Karmal is firmly in command of the ruling PDPA. Infighting between the Parcham and Khalq factions of the party is less evident in 1983 than in previous years, and it appears that the Soviets have succeeded in bringing them under control. Afghanistan continues to depend on the Soviet Union for economic aid and food assistance.
June 24, 1983
Seven days of talks sponsored by the UN on the withdrawal of Soviet troops end in Geneva with no sign of major progress on the issue. The talks were conducted by a UN negotiator who met separately and alternately with delegates from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan was involved in the talks because an estimated three million Afghan refugees had crossed into its territory and because the Soviet Union asserted that Pakistan was the main supporter of the mujaheddin and the major channel through which arms reached them. Iran, which by its own estimate houses 1.5 million Afghan refugees, boycotted the talks because it believed that no negotiations should be undertaken without the participation of the guerrillas.
1984
Muslim insurgency against the Soviet-backed government increases sharply during the year. Afghanistan continues to be dependent on the U.S.S.R. for military aid, food supplies, fuel, and even medical treatment for its leaders. Afghanistan's relations with the West remain strained, and its relations with Asian nations, with the exception of India, show no visible improvement. After five years of Soviet military presence, the nation is slowly but steadily becoming a satellite of Moscow.
July and August 1984
Pakistan claims that air and artillery attacks on Pakistan from Afghanistan have killed some 100 people. The allegation is promptly denied by Kabul, but Pakistan-based foreign journalists taken on a tour of the affected areas confirm the attacks. The affair heats up when the U.S. State Department issues a statement on August 24 "deploring the attacks on Pakistan."
Late August 1984
The most important diplomatic development of the year takes place in Geneva, where talks are held under UN auspices. Afghan Foreign Minister Dost and his Pakistani counterpart Khan do not meet face to face but hold negotiations through Cordovez. Nothing concrete emerges from the talks, however; UN officials refuse to comment, except to say privately that another round of discussions will be held later, possibly in 1985. The three main items under discussions are international guarantees of Afghanistan's security, the return to Afghanistan of the approximately 4.5 million refugees from Pakistan and Iran, and withdrawal of more than 100,000 Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
1985
Afghanistan produces 31% of the world's opium, according to the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention.
May 1985
Pressure from the Pakistanis, from outside supporters, and from the guerrilla commanders force the seven major resistance groups based in Peshawar to form an alliance. Inside Afghanistan, neighbouring ethnolinguistically oriented resistance groups unite for military and political purposes within their various regions. Internal struggles for leadership also occur in certain areas where the Soviets have little influence, such as Hazarajat and Nurestan. Although no national liberation front exists, the resistance groups begin to feel that they are part of an overall effort to liberate Afghanistan.
June, August, and December 1985
The UN special representative for Afghanistan, Cordovez, shuttles between separate rooms in the UN building in Geneva, meeting alternately with Afghan Foreign Minister Dost and his Pakistani counterpart, Khan. The foreign ministers do not meet directly, since to do so would amount to recognition by Pakistan of Karmal's regime. Iran once again boycotts the talks but is kept informed. The last round of talks adjourns on December 19 to allow the parties to study new UN proposals. Earlier, the U.S. announced its willingness to act as guarantor of a settlement that would involve Soviet troop withdrawal and an end to U.S. aid to the guerrillas.
Mid-August 1985
An antiguerrilla onslaught is launched by the joint Soviet-Afghan military command in eastern Afghanistan but falls far short of success. However, the offensive, described by area experts as among the biggest since the Soviet intervention in 1979, brings the war closer to the Pakistani border, a fact that worries Islamabad.
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