Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency begins its own program to recruit Arab fighters from the Middle East to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan, some two years after the invasion.
Pakistan and the United States had just concluded a $3.2 billion military assistance deal (including its current crop of F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters) and Pakistan began the largest covert operation in history, supplying anti-Soviet fighters in Afghanistan and building up an Arab fighting force.
The Saudis begin their own program in 1982, also spurred on by assistance from the U.S. and CIA assistance.
Day: March 31, 2021