The Holy Warrior: Osama Bin Laden and his Jihadi Journey in the Soviet-Afghan War - 2nd Edition - Paperbackby Reagan Fancher (Author) Fought between 1979 and 1989, the Soviet Afghan War provided vital combat experience for Osama bin Laden and his senior lieutenants in al Qaeda, allowing them to hone their newly acquired skills in guerrilla warfare to later support Islamist insurgencies worldwide. Yet the ruthless al Qaeda chief's success depended on the Soviet leadership's reluctant prolonging of its military occupation out of fear of leaving Afghanistan