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- Though not officially a belligerent during the Soviet–Afghan War, the United Kingdom was heavily involved, playing a key covert role in the conflict. Also known as the Second Great Game, the British provided both indirect and direct support for the Afghan Mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet Union which included arming, funding and supplying various factions covertly. Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) primarily supported the Mujahideen group Jamiat-e Islami commanded by Ahmad Shah Massoud who, having received little support from the US and Pakistan, became Britain's key ally in the conflict. Fighting in the Panjshir valley, Massoud and his fighters with British support and intelligence, overcame nine Soviet offensives and held the vital valley up to the Soviet withdrawal there in 1986. Massoud became the most successful and feared out of any of the Mujahideen commanders. The British also played a vital role in support of the US government's Operation Cyclone, from which the latter provided far more in financial and material terms. Unlike the US which had to funnel its program through Pakistan, the UK on the other hand played a more direct combat role in Afghanistan itself – in particular, retired or seconded Special forces such as the Special Air Service and private military corporations, that supported the resistance groups in practical manners. One of Britain's biggest contributions was training the Mujahideen, not just in Afghanistan and Pakistan but also in the Gulf states and the UK itself. The UK's role in the conflict entailed direct military involvement not only in Afghanistan but the Central Asian republics of the Soviet Union. By the war's end, Britain's support to the Afghan resistance turned out to be Whitehall's most extensive covert operation since the Second World War. (en)
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- Though not officially a belligerent during the Soviet–Afghan War, the United Kingdom was heavily involved, playing a key covert role in the conflict. Also known as the Second Great Game, the British provided both indirect and direct support for the Afghan Mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet Union which included arming, funding and supplying various factions covertly. Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) primarily supported the Mujahideen group Jamiat-e Islami commanded by Ahmad Shah Massoud who, having received little support from the US and Pakistan, became Britain's key ally in the conflict. Fighting in the Panjshir valley, Massoud and his fighters with British support and intelligence, overcame nine Soviet offensives and held the vital valley up to the Soviet withdrawal (en)
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