The Soviet Union sent its troops to Afghanistan...
However, Zahir Shah"s policy of moderate development, which did nothing to change the country, displeased a number of political forces, from Islamists to progressives. In 1973, while Zahir Shah was in Italy undergoing eye surgery, his cousin and former Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan staged a coup and established a republican government.
The coup itself, which was the first link in a long chain of events, did not affect Afghanistan"s relations with the Soviet Union. But the situation in the country gradually deteriorated. Rabbani, Hekmatyar and several other Islamic leaders emigrated to neighboring Pakistan and later led an armed opposition and formed the Seven Party Mujahideen Alliance, or Peshawar Seven. The United States made its first moves to establish relations with the future Mujahideen leaders.
Relations between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan started deteriorating in 1977, when Mohammed Daoud sought to establish ties with the Gulf monarchies and Iran.