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List of military equipment used by the mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War

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This list shows military equipment used by the mujahideen during the Soviet–Afghan War. The Mujahideen obtained weapons from many sources, mostly supplied by foreign sources, such as the Central Intelligence Agency’s Operation Cyclone, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United Kingdom, and channeled through Pakistan. Many weapons were also captured from the Soviet Army or the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.

Small arms

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Weapon Image Type Origin Notes
Webley Revolver   Revolver   British Empire
Enfield   Revolver   British Empire
TT-33[1]   Semi-automatic pistol   Soviet Union Captured from Soviet and DRA troops. Khyber Pass copies were also used.[2]
Makarov PM[3][4]   Semi-automatic pistol   Soviet Union Captured from the Soviet Army[3] and DRA Army.[4] Khyber Pass copies were also used.[2]
Type 54   Semi-automatic pistol   People's Republic of China Obtained from China and Pakistan
Stechkin APS   Machine pistol   Soviet Union Captured from Soviet forces.[2]
PPSh-41[5]   Submachine gun   Soviet Union
Sten[6]   Submachine gun   British Empire
Heckler & Koch MP5   Submachine gun   West Germany Documented as used by at least one Mujahideen commander[7]
L1A1 Self-Loading Rifle   Battle rifle   India Indian variants acquired by Pakistan; almost all were not used eventually due to concerns of ammo supplies.[8]
AK-47   Assault rifle   Soviet Union Obtained from DRA Army deserters, or captured.[9][10]
AKS-47 Assault rifle   Soviet Union
AKM[11]   Assault rifle   Soviet Union Captured from Afghan Army.
AKMS   Assault rifle   Soviet Union
Type 56[12]   Assault rifle   People's Republic of China
AK-74[3][13]   Assault rifle   Soviet Union Captured from the Soviet Army and Afghan Army.[3][13]
AKS-74U   Assault rifle   Soviet Union
M16[14]   Assault rifle   United States
Heckler & Koch G3   Battle rifle   West Germany License built version obtained from Iran[15]
Jezail   Musket   Emirate of Afghanistan Limited use.[10]
Martini–Henry   Single-shot rifle   British Empire Limited use.[10]
Mosin–Nagant[16]   Bolt-action rifle   Soviet Union Delivered to Afghanistan in 1919 on Lenin's orders.[10]
Lebel[15]   Bolt-action rifle   French Third Republic
Lee–Enfield[17]   Bolt-action rifle   British Empire
M1917 Springfield   Bolt-action rifle   United States of America Called G3 by the Mujahideen[18]
Hanyang 88[19]   Bolt-action rifle   People's Republic of China
SKS[20]   Semi-automatic rifle   Soviet Union
M1 Garand[15]   Semi-automatic rifle   United States
RPD   Light machine gun   Soviet Union Most commonly used machine gun.[10]
RPK[21] Light machine gun   Soviet Union Most commonly used machine gun.[10]
Degtyaryov   Light machine gun   Soviet Union
Bren   Light machine gun   British Empire
ZB vz. 26[22]   Light machine gun   Czechoslovakia Limited use.[10]
PKM   General-purpose machine gun   Soviet Union Limited use.[10]
Type 67[23]   General-purpose machine gun   China

Heavy weapons

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This includes anti-air and anti-tank weapons used by the Mujahideen, also artillery.

Weapon Image Type Origin Notes
DShK[15]   Heavy machine gun   Soviet Union
Type 54 HMG[24]   Heavy machine gun   People's Republic of China
SG-43 Goryunov[13]   Medium machine gun   Soviet Union
KVP[10]   Heavy machine gun   Soviet Union
ZU-23-2[25][26]   Anti-aircraft gun   Soviet Union Some mounted on trucks and armored vehicles.
ZPU   Anti-aircraft gun   Soviet Union ZPU-1, ZPU-2 and ZPU-4 versions used.
Oerlikon 20mm cannon   Anti-aircraft gun    Switzerland 40 delivered in 1984.[27]
RPG-2[15][28]   Rocket-propelled grenade   Soviet Union
RPG-7[10]   Rocket-propelled grenade   Soviet Union
RPG-18   Disposable rocket launcher   Soviet Union Captured from Soviet forces
RPG-22   Disposable rocket launcher   Soviet Union Captured from Soviet forces[29]
Type 69 RPG[30]   Rocket-propelled grenade   People's Republic of China
B-10 recoilless rifle   82mm recoilless rifle   Soviet Union Chinese Type 65 variant also used.
SPG-9   73mm recoilless rifle   Soviet Union
Type 56   75mm recoilless rifle   People's Republic of China
82-BM-37   82mm mortar   Soviet Union Most widely used artillery piece[29]
M1938[31]   107mm mortar   Soviet Union
Type 63   60mm mortar   China
M1942 (ZiS-3)   76mm field gun   Soviet Union Captured from DRA forces[29]
2A18 (D-30)   122mm howitzer   Soviet Union Captured from DRA forces[29]
M1938 (M-30)   122mm howitzer   Soviet Union Captured from DRA forces[29]
Type 63   107mm multiple rocket launcher   People's Republic of China About 500 launchers supplied.[32]
Saqar   Multiple rocket launcher   Egypt Egyptian variant of BM-21 Grad. Delivered in several variants with varying range and caliber.[31]
9K32 Strela-2 (SA-7 Grail)   Man-portable air-defense system   Soviet Union Captured from DRA forces.[10] Egyptian Sakr-eye version also used.[citation needed]
9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14 Gremlin)[33]   Man-portable air-defense system   Soviet Union
FIM-43 Redeye   Man-portable air-defense system   United States 50 launchers delivered.[32]
FIM-92 Stinger   Man-portable air-defense system   United States 800 missiles delivered overall, deliveries began in 1986.[32]
HN-5 Man-portable air-defense system   People's Republic of China HN-5A and HN-5B versions delivered, about 400 missiles supplied.[32]
Blowpipe   Man-portable air-defense system   United Kingdom 50 launchers and 300 missiles delivered.[32]
BGM-71 TOW   Anti-tank guided missile   United States 80 launchers delivered in 1988[32]
MILAN   Anti-tank guided missile   France 160 launchers delivered in 1988[29]
PMN mine   Anti-personnel mine   Soviet Union [34]
M18 Claymore mine   Anti-personnel mine   United States [34]
A.P. Mine No.5 Anti-personnel mine   United Kingdom [34]
TS-50 mine   Anti-personnel mine   Italy [34]
TM-46 mine   Anti-tank mine   Soviet Union [34]
M19 mine   Anti-tank mine   United States [34]
A.T. Mine G.S. Mark V   Anti-tank mine   United Kingdom [34]
Mk 7 mine Anti-tank mine   United Kingdom [34]
TC-2.5 mine   Anti-tank mine   Italy [34]
TC-6.1 mine   Anti-tank mine   Italy [34]
PRB M3 mine Anti-tank mine   Belgium [34]

Vehicles

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The Mujahideen acquired substantial amounts of armoured vehicles from the DRA, both captured during combat and brought over by defectors but the lack of trained personnel, spare parts and the prevalence of Soviet airpower meant that they were seldom used.[29]

Weapon Image Type Origin Notes
T-55   Main battle tank   Soviet Union Captured from the DRA, limited use[29]
BMP-1   Infantry fighting vehicle   Soviet Union Captured from the DRA, limited use[29]
BTR-60   Armoured personnel carrier   Soviet Union Captured from the DRA, limited use[29]
BTR-152   Armoured personnel carrier   Soviet Union Captured from the DRA, limited use[29]
M113   Armoured personnel carrier   United States ~5 given by United States[35]
GAZ-66   Transport truck   Soviet Union Captured from the DRA[36]
ZIL-130[37]   Transport truck   Soviet Union
Toyota Land Cruiser   Pickup truck   Japan Bought in Pakistan[36]
KrAZ-255[38]   Transport truck   Soviet Union


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  •  
    Jamiat-e-Islami Mujahideen manning a DShK.
  •  
    9K32 Strela-2 missile.
  •  
    Hezb-i Islami Khalis fighters with a mix of AK-47 and Lee–Enfield rifles
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    Captured field guns
  •  
    Mujahideen weaponry seized by the Soviets: rocket-propelled grenades, light machine guns, submachine guns, shotguns

References

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  1. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 291. Malek took his American G3 [bolt-action] rifle and his Soviet TT pistol and walked out of the depot cave.
  2. ^ a b c Thompson, Leroy (27 October 2022). Soviet Pistols: Tokarev, Makarov, Stechkin and others. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 69. ISBN 978-1-4728-5349-3. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 6. The Soviet officer dropped his AK-74 and took out his pistol. Doctor Khayat threw a hand grenade at the officer and killed him. Then he crossed the road and took his AK-74 and his Makarov pistol.
  4. ^ a b Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 387. We captured 16 Kalashnikovs and I got their commander's Makarov pistol.
  5. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 120. Dr. Qudus group had one Soviet PPSH submachine gun, some bolt-action rifles and some other weapons.
  6. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad; Grau Lester (1989). Afghan Guerrilla Warfare, in the Words of the Mujahideen Fighters. MBI Publishing. p. 379. ISBN 0-7603-1322-9. The HIH group were armed with AK-47 Kalashnikovs, while the Mohseni group had British Sten guns and other weapons.
  7. ^ McCurry, Steve (September 1979). "Steve McCurry and Commander Abdul Raluf". Archived from the original on February 11, 2014. Abdul Raluf, standing to my left, was the commander of the Asmir Garrison in Afghanistan's Kunar province. In September 1979, Commander Raluf and his 300 soldiers at a strategic outpost on the border with Pakistan, switched sides, killing the provincial governor, stripping the garrison of weapons and supplies, and joined forces with the Mujahideen. It took another ten years for the Afghan government to fall.
  8. ^ Isby (1990), p. 7.
  9. ^ Urban 1987, p. 69.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Isby, David (20 February 2013). Russia's War in Afghanistan. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 81−84. ISBN 978-1-4728-0179-1. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
  11. ^ Grau, Lester W. (1998). The bear went over the mountain – Soviet combat tactics in Afghanistan. Frank Cass. pp. 42. ISBN 0-7146-4413-7.
  12. ^ "Rifle - Chinese Type 56 Assault, circa 1960s". Archived from the original on May 19, 2023.
  13. ^ a b c Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 8. The Soviets captured the weapons of the dead Mujahideen including some AK-47s, a Goryunov machine gun, an RPG-7 and a few AK-74s captured from the Soviets in the past.
  14. ^ "Use of the M-16 Rifle by Mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War 1979-1989". 5 March 2023.
  15. ^ a b c d e Roy, Olivier (1990). Islam and resistance in Afghanistan. Cambridge University Press. pp. 184–186. ISBN 0-521-39700-6.
  16. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 411. The Model M1891/30 is a Russian/Soviet bolt-action rifle or carbine which fires the 7.62x54 cartridge…The Mujahideen called them five-shooters.
  17. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 409. British-manufactured .303 bolt-action rifle which was the standard British infantry weapon from 1895 through the Korean War… It has a 10-round magazine and can carry an additional round in the chamber, so the Mujahideen called them 11-shooters.
  18. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 251. We had Enfield and G3 bolt-action rifles and a few Kalashnikovs. We lacked the capability to launch major attacks, but conducted hit and run actions. We did not have a base in the mountains, but lived in the village.
  19. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad; Grau Lester (1989). Afghan Guerrilla Warfare, in the Words of the Mujahideen Fighters. MBI Publishing. pp. 253. ISBN 0-7603-1322-9. We had one RPG-7 with three rounds, two Kalashnikovs, and some Marko Chinese bolt-action rifles. [Footnote:] Marko is the Chinese copy of the German M-88 Mauser.
  20. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 413. Gas-operated semi-automatic Soviet carbine with a folding bayonet…The Mujahideen simply called them carbines.
  21. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 177. My force was armed with individual automatic rifles (AK-47), light machine guns (RPK), heavy machine guns (PK), light anti-tank grenade launchers (RPG-7), Milan anti-tank missile launchers, 82mm recoilless rifles, 75mm recoilless rifles, 82mm mortars, 107mm Multiple Barrel (twelve barrel) rocket launchers (BM12), Saqar Rocket Launchers, and Stinger shoulder-fired air defense missiles.
  22. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad (1998). The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War. p. 407. Czechoslovak M26 light machine gun which fires from a top-loading 20-round magazine…The Mujahideen called them 20-shooters.
  23. ^ "Type 67 GPMG". Modern Firearms. 2010-11-10. Archived from the original on March 21, 2023. Retrieved 2022-01-18.
  24. ^ Urban 1987, p. 123.
  25. ^ "The Taliban acquisition of anti-aircraft platforms - FDD's Long War Journal". 2 November 2010. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022.
  26. ^ Jalali, Ali Ahmad; Grau Lester (1989). Afghan Guerrilla Warfare, in the Words of the Mujahideen Fighters. MBI Publishing. p. 135. ISBN 0-7603-1322-9. Mujahideen armaments included one Saqar, one BM12, one 122mm howitzer, six 82mm mortars, eight 82mm recoilless rifles and approximately 40 RPG-7s. We also had some ZSU-23-2 antiaircraft guns and some Stinger antiaircraft missiles.
  27. ^ "Stinger missiles in Afghanistan". Archived from the original on March 31, 2022.
  28. ^ Grau, Lester W. (1996). The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan. DIANE Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 978-0-7881-4665-7. This force had 15 men armed with 2 RPG-2 antitank grenade launchers, a DShK heavy machine gun, a sniper rifle and several AKM assault rifles.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Isby, David (1989). War in a distant country, Afghanistan: invasion and resistance. Arms and Armour Press. pp. 42. ISBN 0-85368-769-2.
  30. ^ Urban 1987, p. 126.
  31. ^ a b "The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War". 1998. p. 412. Egyptian 107mm or 122mm MRL. It has one, two, three and four-barrel light-weight launchers. The 107mm (Saqar 20) has a maximum range of 8000 meters and the 122mm (Saqar 30) has a maximum range of 10,800 meters. The 107mm model was more common in Afghanistan. Some Mujahideen state that they had special rounds which enabled the Saqar to reach 20 kilometers and the Saqar 30 to reach 30 kilometers. Saqar means "eagle" in Egyptian
  32. ^ a b c d e f "Trade Registers". armstrade.sipri.org.
  33. ^ Afghanistan, 1979-2001; Part 2
  34. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k shtab, Russia (Federation) Generalʹnyĭ (2002). The Soviet-Afghan War: How a Superpower Fought and Lost. University Press of Kansas. p. 243. ISBN 978-0-7006-1185-0. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  35. ^ "AFGHANISTAN: MUJAHIDEEN DEMONSTRATE CAPTURED SOVIET ARMY VEHICLE AND PRISONERS". British Pathe. (1982).
  36. ^ a b Urban 1987, p. 96.
  37. ^ Grau, Lester W. (1998). The bear went over the mountain - Soviet combat tactics in Afghanistan. Frank Cass. pp. 169. ISBN 0-7146-4413-7.
  38. ^ "Kraz 255B : where has it been used". Armorama.
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