Soviet–Afghan War | Intense Combat Footage of 1980s Afghanistan | Archive Documentary (1984)

In September 1984, ITN’s Sandy Gall and cameraman Paul Carleton travelled covertly into Afghanistan to report from behind the front lines of the Soviet–Afghan War. Five years into the conflict, Soviet troops held the major cities and supply routes, while much of the countryside remained contested amid intensifying violence, mass displacement, and one of the largest refugee crises of the Cold War. Over the course of a week, Gall and Carleton documented the mujahideen’s guerrilla campaign against the Soviet occupation and the war’s profound impact on Afghan civilians. Of the many hours of footage filmed by Carleton under extreme conditions, only a few minutes were selected to appear in four special reports on News at Ten. Digitised by the ITN Archive team in December 2025, most of what follows has remained unseen for decades and is being released publicly here for the first time. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:40 Crossing the Pakistan–Afghanistan border 00:15:43 Interviews with Afghan refugees en route to Pakistan 00:24:57 Collecting weapons from hidden arsenal 00:32:17 Deserted village / scene of Soviet air assault 00:34:52 Breaking bread 00:39:28 Preparing for the assault 00:45:55 Arriving at the ambush site (element of surprise is lost) 00:47:03 Soviet forces attack 01:00:51 Preparing the meal 01:05:29 Another deserted village showing signs of battle 01:08:37 Interview with Soviet defectors 01:11:12 Russian defectors dispose of unexploded Soviet bombs 01:19:50 Mujahideen assault on Afghan forces in Hesarak 01:21:23 Mujahideen using SAM launchers against Soviet gunships 01:25:35 Sandy Gall assessment of the conflict #Afghanistan #SovietAfghanWar #SovietUnion #SovietHistory #SovietInvasionOfAfghanistan #1980sAfghanistan #Russia #Mujahideen #Soviet #SovietWave #Afghan #ModernWarfare #MilitaryHistory #GuerrillaWarfare #ColdWar #ColdWarHistory To search the ITN Archive collection on Getty Images, follow the link below: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/footage... 🎥 Subscribe to our YouTube channel (tap the bell icon and stay up to date with all the latest ITN Archive videos!) -    / @itnarchive   🎥 Follow us on Twitter -   / itnarchive   🎥 Like us on Facebook -   / itnarchiveitnp   🎥 Check out our TikTok -   / itnarchive1955