Soviet troops’ entry into Afghanistan was a mistake by the Soviet leadership and Afghan authorities, but a new page was subsequently opened in relations between Moscow and Kabul, said Mir Rahman Rahmani, chairman of the Lower House of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
“I have to note that there were also some bad pages in our relationship. One of them was the deployment of Soviet troops to Afghanistan”, – said Mir Rahman Rahmani, president of the Lower House of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. – “I think it was a mistake by the then Soviet leadership and the inexperience of the then Afghan leadership, which was not very good at the situation in their country, which resulted in huge casualties on both sides. However, it is encouraging, and I should be fortunate to note, that that page has been turned and that a new page has been opened between our States. We are determined to build new friendly relations between our states”, – Rachmani said at a meeting with State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin.
Rachmani noted that Russia was among the first countries to recognize the restoration of Afghanistan’s independence, and in the years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Moscow has built dozens of life support facilities and infrastructure in Afghanistan.
From 1979 to 1989, more than 650 thousand soldiers of the limited contingent of Soviet troops and 200 thousand freelance citizens of the USSR of almost all nationalities took part in the hostilities in Afghanistan. The Soviet losses amounted to 15 thousand 51 people.
The withdrawal of troops from this country marked the end of the Afghan war for the Soviet Union.