1980s conflicts

1979–1989 war between the Soviet Union and Afghan insurgents

The Iran–Iraq War began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran in September 1980. After eight years of conflict, both countries accepted a ceasefire deal brokered by the United Nations, which became effective in August 1988. The war caused around 500,000 deaths, making it the deadliest conventional war ever fought between regular armies of developing countries.

1975–1990 Civil War in Lebanon

1960s–1990s conflict in Northern Ireland

armed conflict in Angola between 1975 and 2002

civil war in Ethiopia between 1974 and 1991

war on the border of South West Africa/Namibia and Angola

USA-led campaign against illegal drug use and trade

13 year 1979-1992 civil war in El Salvador

ethno-political conflict over Georgia's autonomous region of South Ossetia

Iran and Israel have been engaged in a proxy conflict since 1985. In the Israeli–Lebanese conflict, Iran has supported Lebanese Shia militias, most notably Hezbollah. In the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Iran has backed Palestinian groups such as Hamas. Israel has supported Iranian rebels, conducted airstrikes against Iranian allies in Syria, assassinated Iranian nuclear scientists, and directly attacked Iranian forces in Syria. In 2024 the proxy war escalated to a series of direct confrontations between the two countries, and in June 2025, they fought a 12-day war, involving the United States.

armed conflict in India between the state and Maoists

1978–1987 series of military campaigns

pseudo-conflict between Denmark and Canada over ownership of Hans Island

conflict between rebels in Sahara and Morocco between 1975 and 1991. It began again in 2020

separatist conflict in the region of West Papua

1975-present conflict in the Angolan exclave of Cabinda

ongoing low-level conflict between the Government of Senegal and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance since 1982

armed conflict in Peru during 1980-2000 of left insurgent groups (Shining Path and MRTA) against Peruvian governments and far-right death squats

guerrilla war waged between 1981 and 1986 in Uganda by the National Resistance Army (NRA) under the leadership of Yoweri Museveni against the government of Milton Obote, and later that of Tito Okello

series of border and naval clashes between China and Vietnam

1986-1992 civil war in Suriname

1984–1995 Sikh-nationalist militant uprising in Punjab, India

The Gukurahundi was a series of mass killings and genocide in Zimbabwe which were committed from 1983 until the Unity Accord in 1987. The campaign targeted mainly the Ndebele ethnic group and supporters of opposition leader Joshua Nkomo. The name derives from a Shona language term which loosely translates to "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains".

acts committed by Indonesian government during its occupation of East Timor (1975–1999)

conflict between Moldova and its Gagauz-populated territory from 1989 to 1995

military repression of the Mexican government, backed by the US government, against leftist movements in the 1960s and 1980s

conflict between the Bangladeshi government and tribal insurgents

mass agitation against illegal foreigners in Assam, India, from 1979 to 1985

1987 Military operation by the Soviet Army during the Soviet-Afghan War

armed conflict

bilateral relations between Levantian State of Israel and political guerilla organization of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)

1981–1991 war of national liberation in Somalia

ideology asserting that the Tripuri are a distinct nation

period of mass insurgency in Uganda between 1986 and 1994

initial phase of the armed conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE

movement to overthrow Jean-Claude Duvalier

conflict in Eastern Saudi Arabia between Shias and Sunnis

1983–2025 conflict

armed conflict in Cambodia