How did the Soviets initially view the war in Afghanistan?

In the early stages, the high command of the Soviet 40th Army and the Politburo initially viewed their troops in a supportive role of the Afghan military in opposition to the Afghan rebels. Kremlin officials held the view that the rebels were nothing more than bandits much like the Muslim rebels that followed the Bolshevik Revolution. But because of Afghan Army desertions and ineffectiveness, the Soviets gradually took on the conflict for themselves.