AFGHANISTAN SITUATION REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T01017R000808020001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 17, 2012
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 23, 1986
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/16: CIA-RDP86T01017R000808020001-2
Directorate of
Intelligence
DATE
N '9-' ~Co 0l0 /J 'Cx
DOC NO sad f* c'o~Q$CX
OIR
-719
P $ PD
Afghanistan Situation Report
.i9_B0
Decem err / 986
Copy 0 8 0
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/16: CIA-RDP86T01017R000808020001-2
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/16: CIA-RDP86T01017R000808020001-2
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/16: CIA-RDP86T01017R000808020001-2
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/16: CIA-RDP86T01017R000808020001-2
TOP SECRET
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Soviet and Afghan combat operations were under way near
Herat, and on the Shomali Plain last week in 25X1
an effort to curb continuing high levels of guerrilla
activity. 25X1
Jamiat-i-Islami leader Rabbani visited Gabon, Niger,
and Senegal in early December to solicit support for
the Afghan resistance. The trip was ged with the
assistance of French officials.
ITALIAN LIBERAL PARTY OFFICIAL'S VIEW OF THE WAR I 4 25X1
Italian Liberal Party Secretary Altissimo, who visited
the Konar Valley in September, believes that
intensified efforts are needed to make the Soviets pay
a high price in negative international opinion for the
continued occupation of Afghanistan.
23 December 1986
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TOP SECRET
This document was prepared by the Office of Near
Eastern and South Asian Analysis and the Office of
Soviet Analysis. Questions or comments on the issues
raised in the publication should be directed to
23 December 1986
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MULTIPLE OPERATIONS UNDERWAY
Heavy fighting continued last week in Herat.
a combined Soviet-
Afghan combat operation continued in the Shomali Plain
around Bagram airfield. Comprising elements of an
Afghan infantry division and a Soviet airborne
regiment, the task force may be responding to an
insurgent ambush on 16 or 17 December of a Soviet
convoy heading from Kabul to Bagram.
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RABBANI'S AFRICAN TRIP I 25X1
Jamiat-i-Islami leader Rabbani visited Gabon, Niger,
and Senegal in early December to gain support for the
resistance. Accompanied by Homayoum Tondar, the
party's Paris representative, he met with Presidents
Bongo, Kountche, and Diouf. Rabbani spoke of Soviet
depradations in Afghanistan and pledged free elections
and Afghanistan's return to non-alignment after the
Soviets withdraw. US officials believe Rabbani also
lobbied each head of state for support at the coming
OIC Conference in Kuwait.
23 December 1986
NESA M 86-20174CX
SOVA M 86-20125CX
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COMMENT: Rabbani's visit to Francophone west Africa
had been scheduled for last spring, during his tenure
as alliance spokesman, but was cancelled when the
parties failed to concur on the trip's purpose.
Although the just-concluded trip was not endorsed by
the alliance, it was treated by the media as if it
were. The favorable coverage Rabbani attracted may
increase support in the alliance for such quasi-
diplomatic activities.
Rabbani's successful trip stems from Tondar's
longstanding recommendation that the Jamiat--and the
resistance generally--aggressively seek international
media exposure, particularly in largely Muslim non-Arab
countries. 25X1
Tondar arranged the trip with French logistic help. In
return, Tondar apparently 25X1
persuaded Rabbani to ask Sengalese President Diouf to
allow several insurgents to enroll in the university at
Dakar. Paris reportedly believes Afghan students could
cultivate antipathy toward the Soviets among the
student body and counterbalance efforts of radical
Senegalese Muslims. 25X1
Italian Liberal Party Secretary Renato Altissimo, who
visited the Konar Valley in mid-September, said that
while he found the insurgents eager to attack the
Soviets, their spirits were flagging. Shortages of
arms, medicine, clothing, and food were a factor in
lowered morale, as were unsatisfactory living
conditions in the refugee camps in Pakistan. Altissimo
asserted that the Soviets eventually will win unless
Western public opinion is focused on the war and
increased military and humanitarian aid is sent to the
insurgents.
Altissimo said that he has launched an initiative to
raise West European public interest in the war. He
also said that party currently is urging Prime Minister
Craxi's government to provide substantial humanitarian
aid for Afghan refugees in Pakistan and trying to
23 December 1986
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persuade Craxi to sponsor the resistance alliance's
membership in the United Nations.
In Altissimo's opinion, cooperative efforts among the
European Community, the United States, and pro-Afghan
Arab states are needed to rivet Western media's
attention on the war and force the Soviets to pay a
high price in negative international opinion. More
important, Altissimo claimed that this sort of united
action is the only way in which significant aid could
be procured from West European governments. Without a
multilateral "umbrella organization," according to
Altissimo, West Europeans will remain aloof from the
war for fear of offending Moscow and endangering
economic ties with the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
The PDPA Politburo publicly criticized the
party's provincial committee in Nangarhar on
18 December for failing to execute fully
decisions of the 19th and 20th party plenums.
Specifically, the Nangarhar group was
admonished for failing to meet conscription
goals, broaden the party's base, and
consolidate control. Coming on the heels of
Najib's visit to Moscow, the rebuke almost
certainly is meant to impress Moscow with the
PDPA's determination to remedy the regime's
failings.
Ireland has decided to participate in the
McCollum patient airlift program. According
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23 December 1986
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to the US Embassy in Dublin, the Government
of Ireland has agreed to accept two Afghan
patients for treatment on a trial basis in
1987. This is the first instance of
unilateral Irish humanitarian aid to the
Afghan resistance, although Dublin has
supported the resistance position in
international fora.
The Government of Sweden plans to increase
aid to the Afghan resistance by 33 percent.
According to press reports, the bulk of the
20 million kronor--approximately $2.9
million--will be channeled through the
Swedish Afghanistan Committee, a private
organization, to purchase medicines and
medical equipment. Swedish humanitarian
organizations are one of the main sus of
medical aid for the insurgents.
On 14 December the Kabul regime signed a
contract with the Soviet Union for
reconstruction of the Kabul-to-Jeyretan
highway, according to press reports. Under
the agreement, Moscow will deliver
construction equipment worth approximately
$7.25 million to Afghanistan over the next 36
months. Repair of the highway--which was
begun two years ago--is being finance
jointly by Afghanistan and the USSR.
23 December 1986
NESA M 86-20174CX
SOVA M 86-20125CX
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/16: CIA-RDP86T01017R000808020001-2
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/16: CIA-RDP86T01017R000808020001-2
The European Parliament's resolution on
Afghanistan on 11 December condemned the
Soviet occupation, demanded immediate
withdrawal of Soviet troops, and urged Moscow
to let the Red Cross have access to political
prisoners in Kabul. Simultaneously, the
European Commission earmarked cereals to
support Afghan refugees in Pakistan. The
strong actions probably owe much to the UK's
efforts while EC president to keep up
criticism of Soviet actions in Afghanistan.
According to a Soviet foreign ministry
official, PDPA General Secretary Najib's
recent visit to Moscow was routine and
contributed nothing toward a settlement of
the war. The official also cautioned that
public Soviet and Afghan optimism about the
next round of Geneva talks only mirrors UN-
negotiator Cordovez's views.
23 December 1986
NESA M 86-20174CX
SOVA M 86-20125CX
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