Editing Operation Cyclone (section)

==Execution of Operation Cyclone==
The CIA implemented Operation Cyclone by funneling money, weapons, and training to the mujahideen through Pakistan’s ISI, which acted as the primary intermediary to maintain plausible deniability. Key aspects of the program included:
===Funding and Scale===
Initial funding in 1979 was modest, but by the mid-1980s, the program’s budget reached $630 million annually, with total U.S. spending estimated at $3–6 billion over its duration. Saudi Arabia matched U.S. contributions dollar-for-dollar, and other countries, including China, the UK, and Egypt, provided additional support.

Funds were used to purchase weapons, including AK-47s, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and, starting in 1986, Stinger missiles, which significantly enhanced the mujahideen’s ability to counter Soviet air superiority.
===Key Recipients===
The ISI distributed aid to various mujahideen factions, with a significant portion going to [[Gulbuddin Hekmatyar]]’s Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, a radical Islamist group. Hekmatyar reportedly received up to 20–30% of CIA aid due to his group’s organizational discipline and alignment with Pakistan’s interests. Other recipients included Ahmad Shah Massoud’s Northern Alliance and factions led by Yunus Khalis and Abdul Rasul Sayyaf.
===Logistics and Training===
Weapons were sourced globally, including from Egypt, China, and Israel, and shipped through Pakistan. The CIA worked with the ISI to train mujahideen in camps near the Afghan border, teaching tactics for guerrilla warfare, sabotage, and the use of advanced weaponry like Stingers.

The program also involved psychological operations, such as distributing anti-Soviet propaganda and even providing translated copies of the Quran to bolster the mujahideen’s ideological resolve.
===International Collaboration===
The CIA coordinated with allies like Saudi Arabia, which funded jihadist recruitment, and the UK’s MI6, which provided technical support. Pakistan’s ISI played a critical role in selecting recipients and managing distribution, often favoring Islamist factions over moderates, which shaped the war’s ideological trajectory.
===Outcomes and Impact===
Operation Cyclone achieved its primary goal: the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan in February 1989, weakened by a costly war that killed an estimated 14,500 Soviet soldiers and up to 2 million Afghans, while displacing millions more. The mujahideen’s success, bolstered by U.S. aid, contributed to the Soviet Union’s economic and political strain, arguably hastening its collapse in 1991.