Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, while resistance groups had already begun forming earlier that year with open rebellion erupting by early 1979. Reports emerged on the 2nd of February 1979 showing Afghan dissidents receiving guerrilla training across the border in Pakistan.
The Peshawar Seven included fundamentalist factions like Hizb-i Islami Gulbuddin led by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Jamiat-i Islami headed by Burhanuddin Rabbani. Sibghatullah Mojaddedi led traditionalist groups such as Jabha-i Nejat-i Milli within this alliance based in Peshawar, Pakistan.
The CIA provided heavy equipment starting in 1985 including bazookas, heavy machine guns, snow boots, and ski tents for winter operations. The portable surface-to-air Stinger missile first appeared in September 1986 changing the balance of air power in the conflict.
Women participated in the war effort by cooking food, washing clothes, smuggling weapons, and encouraging male relatives to join the fight against occupation forces. Bibi Ayesha operated as a female warlord in Baghlan Province while female refugees created Landays poems reflecting on the suffering they witnessed throughout the conflict.
The Geneva Accords signed the 14th of April 1988 committed Soviet troops to withdraw completely by the 15th of February 1989 completing their exit in two phases ending November 1988. Commander Boris Gromov of the 40th Army remained the last Soviet soldier to leave Afghanistan after fulfilling his duties.