Nation: How the Soviet Army Crushed Afghanistan

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One of the few Western journalists who had even a fleeting glance of the Afghan capital last week was Dutch Photographer Hubert Van Es, on assignment for TIME. On his way into town from the airport, Van Es saw Soviet tanks and troop carriers everywhere. After two nights of house arrest at the Kabul Inter-Continental Hotel, he managed to slip away for a look at downtown Kabul on New Year's Day. He found surprisingly few Soviet soldiers on the streets except in front of Radio Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry and the post office. Back at the hotel, an employee told him: "Did you see many 'others' in town? There are tens of thousands. They are like a steel ring around the city."

One of the mysteries of the week was what had happened to newly appointed President Karmal, who failed to show up for four days after the coup. As it turned out, his first radio address was beamed to Afghanistan from a Russian station, lending credence to the notion that he remained out of the country until his Soviet mentors decided it was safe for him to come home. Finally, on Tuesday evening, he appeared with several members of his new Cabinet at a televised rally, where he called on his countrymen to "come together and support our glorious revolution."

All week, a steady stream of MiGs and Su-17 attack aircraft arrived at Kabul airport to support the Soviet forces in the countryside. Just five miles east of the capital, resistance was continuing at the Pule-Charkhi army headquarters. Instead of opening the gates of the fort, as the Soviets had ordered them to do, the Afghan troops stationed there had killed their Russian advisers and prepared for a siege. The Soviet forces were reluctant to storm the base, lest this lead to a massacre, but they quickly surrounded it. Their solution was to position 20 tanks, their gun barrels pointed downward, on the surrounding hills and wait.

There were other clashes in widely scattered areas. Afghan rebels claimed to have ambushed and routed a Soviet column in Bamian province northwest of Kabul. Fighting was said to be taking place in Logar province south of the capital, in Badakhshan and Takhar along the northeast frontier with the Soviet Union, in the southern city of Kandahar and in the desert wastes west of Herat and Farah. Concluded a Western observer: "The Soviet plan seems to be to secure the capital and seal the borders. If escape routes to Iran and Pakistan are cut, I am sure they are confident that eventually they will prevail over the insurgents through superior force of arms."

In addition to the divisions that have invaded Afghanistan, the Soviets have 40,000 to 60,000 troops within their own border who could be rushed into combat if necessary. U.S. analysts believe it will take all of them, perhaps 100,000 strong, to subdue the country, hold all the important towns and keep the roads open. With the force now in Afghanistan, U.S. analysts believe, the Soviets can hold Kabul and most provincial capitals, but nothing more. The Soviets also control many units of the Afghan army, but the army's ranks are depleted (down to an estimated 50,000 from as many as 150,000) and its loyalties bitterly divided.