In late twentieth century Afghanistan, the Mujahideen were local fighters who mainly opposed which foreign backed government or occupying power?

Introduction / Context:
The term Mujahideen is strongly associated with the conflict in Afghanistan during the late twentieth century. It refers to groups of guerrilla fighters who took up arms in the name of religion and national resistance. In exam oriented general knowledge, this word usually appears in the context of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the long war that followed. Understanding who the Mujahideen fought against is important for linking Cold War politics with regional conflicts.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The question specifies Afghanistan and uses the term Mujahideen.
• The time frame implied is the late twentieth century, when the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan.
• We are asked which power or government they mainly opposed.
• The options mention the Soviet Union, a fundamentalist government, the British Raj, and cooperation with Soviet forces.

Concept / Approach:
Historically, Mujahideen in Afghanistan were resistance fighters who opposed the communist government in Kabul and its powerful ally, the Soviet Union. When Soviet forces entered Afghanistan in 1979 to support the communist regime, many Afghan groups saw this as a foreign occupation and a threat to their religion, culture and independence. The word Mujahideen means those who struggle, often in a religious sense. In exam questions, the key idea is that they resisted Soviet control and the Soviet backed Afghan government, not British rule from an earlier century and not as allies of the Soviets.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the main historical context in which the word Mujahideen is widely used, which is the Afghan war of the 1980s.Step 2: Recall that in 1979 the Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan to support the communist government.Step 3: Note that many Afghan fighters organised as Mujahideen to resist both the communist regime and the Soviet military presence.Step 4: Compare the options and find the one that mentions opposition to the Soviet Union and its supported government.Step 5: Eliminate options about the British Raj and about the Mujahideen supporting Soviet forces, because these do not match the well known events of the late twentieth century.

Verification / Alternative check:
A simple verification method is to connect the term Mujahideen with common textbook phrases such as Afghan guerrillas fighting Soviet forces. News and history sources repeatedly describe them as resistance fighters against Soviet occupation and the communist Afghan state. There is no major source that describes them as allies of Soviet troops, and the British Raj period belongs to an earlier era of Afghan history, not to the late twentieth century conflict usually linked with the Mujahideen.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B is wrong because although some Mujahideen leaders later joined or influenced governments, their main historic role during the Soviet Afghan war was resistance, not the stable running of a long lasting government. Option C is incorrect because the British Raj campaigns in Afghanistan occurred in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, long before the famous Mujahideen struggle of the 1980s. Option D reverses the reality by suggesting that they fought alongside Soviet forces, which is the opposite of their well known resistance role.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes confuse earlier Anglo Afghan wars with the later Soviet Afghan conflict. Another mistake is to treat the term Mujahideen as a general label for any religious group, without linking it to a specific political and military context. For exam purposes, it is best to remember that in Afghanistan the Mujahideen are mainly remembered as fighters who opposed the Soviet Union and the Soviet backed communist regime.

Final Answer:
The Mujahideen were Afghan fighters who opposed the Soviet Union and the Soviet backed communist government in Afghanistan.