Refugee Relief International Inc. is no newcomer to the Afghan area of operations.

During the struggle against the Soviet invasion from 1979 to 1989, several of our organization's current Board of Directors worked in the Pakistani refugee camps training Afghan medics and treating wounded. These medics would then go inside Afghanistan as combat medics and village health workers. Often, they were the only trained medical people in an entire province.

Refugee Relief International volunteers also directly supported Mujahadeen medical efforts inside Afghanistan, often operating under intense Soviet bombardment and pursued by Soviet Spetnaz hunter-killer teams. Close relationships were developed with Massoud, the commander assassinated by an Osama bin Laden suicide squad the day before the World Trade Center bombing.

After the Soviet withdrawal, Refugee Relief teams entered Northern Afghanistan several times to deliver medical supplies, treatment, and training teams to the Northern Alliance. This aid helped the Northern Alliance hold out against superior Taliban forces, and helped set the stage for the stunning battlefield victories leading to the collapse of the Taliban and Al-Queda control of the country.