mujahideen
Islamic guerrilla fighters
Mujahideen is the plural of mujahid, an Arabic term for those engaged in jihad—armed struggle in defense of Islam.
The word gained wide English use during the Soviet-Afghan War (1979–1989), referring to Afghan fighters resisting Soviet occupation: The CIA funneled weapons to the mujahideen.
It has since applied to various Islamic militant groups.
The singular mujahid is rarely used in English.
Armed conflict over faith
- martyrVictim for beliefs
- fighterOne who engages in combat
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
- militantAggressive cause supporter
combatant · warrior · sacrifice · armed struggle · resistance · ideology · recruitment · fatwa
Of the USSR
- AfghanistanCentral Asian landlocked nation
- KabulAfghanistan's capital city
- CIAU.S. foreign intelligence service
- ReaganAmerican presidential surname
Stinger · 1980s · resistance · Cold War · Pakistan · warlord · tribal · Peshawar
Afghan Islamist movement
- Al-QaedaIslamist militant organization
- blowbackUnintended negative consequences
- veteranExperienced former soldier
- diasporaScattered population sharing origins
radicalization · instability · aftermath · civil war · successor · fragmentation · militia · factional
holy war
Armed conflict over faith
militant · combatant · warrior · sacrifice · armed struggle · resistance · ideology · recruitment · fatwa · mujahed
Soviet
Of the USSR
- AfghanistanCentral Asian landlocked nation
- KabulAfghanistan's capital city
- CIAU.S. foreign intelligence service
Reagan · Stinger · 1980s · resistance · Cold War · Pakistan · warlord · tribal · Peshawar · covert
Taliban
Afghan Islamist movement
- Al-QaedaIslamist militant organization
- blowbackUnintended negative consequences
- veteranExperienced former soldier
diaspora · radicalization · instability · aftermath · civil war · successor · fragmentation · militia · factional
- Middle EastIraq, Baghdad, Cairo, Iran, Jordan
- armed forcesarmy, military, soldiers, troops, marines
- resistanceresistance, defiance, resistance fighters, civil resistance, resist
- Cold WarBerlin Wall, Iron Curtain, arms race, Warsaw Pact, Cuban Missile Crisis
- holy warriorscrusader, paladin, holy knight, jihadi, warrior monk
- insurgentsinsurgent, guerrillas, guerrilla, rebel, resistance fighters
mujahideenregular army
Nation's permanent military force
Red Army · Soviet troops · government forces · invaders · NATO forces
mujahideeninfidels
Those rejecting the faith
kafir · crusaders · unbelievers · apostates · secularists
mujahideenpacifists
Those opposing all warfare
peacemakers · conscientious objectors · civilians · noncombatants · peacekeepers