The Soviet War in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union; supporting the Marxist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the indigenous Afghan Mujahideen and foreign 鈥楢rab-Afghan' volunteers. The mujahideen found other support from a variety of sources including the United States; Saudi Arabia; the United Kingdom; Pakistan; Egypt; China and other nations. The Afghan war became a proxy war in the broader context of the late Cold War. The initial Soviet deployment of the 40th Army in Afghanistan began on December 24; 1979 under Soviet premier Leonid Brezhnev. The final troop withdrawal started on May 15; 1988; and ended on February 15; 1989 under the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.