Communists first came to power in Afghanistan in the Saur Revolution in 1978, a little more than a year and a half before the Soviet invasion. Under the leadership of Nur Muhammad Taraki, they initiated a number of radical reforms, including land-redistribution programs and a drive to educate women. So rapid were the communist reforms that many Afghans concluded Islam itself was under attack. Their fears would prove valid: Taraki, who complained privately about women wearing the veil, told his Soviet advisors that Afghanistan’s mosques would be empty by the end of 1979.
Above, an Afghan fighter defends a mosque -- and by extension Islam -- from advancing Soviet tanks and helicopters with the shield bearing the word “jihad.”
Matthew Trevithick
