Afghans remember Soviet withdrawal

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - Afghanistan this week marked with pride the 28th anniversary of the withdrawal of the former USSR’s Red Army from the country.

The day is celebrated every year to glorify what the country calls the “holy jihad” against the mighty Red Army which invaded in December 1979.

Factions of the Afghan mujahedeen backed by the Islamic world and the West fought for more than nine years until Moscow decided to pull out all its troops on 15 Feb. 1989.

Afterwards, Afghanistan plunged into civil war and regional states were provoking instability in the newly-liberated country.

This was followed by Taliban regime until the U.S. invasion and establishment of the current pro-Western government in Kabul since 2002.

During the Soviet occupation, as many as 90,000 Mujahedeen and up to 2 million civilians lost their lives. Up to 15,000 soldiers of the Red Army were reported dead.

The Geneva Accords was signed in April 1988 between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with the US and the Soviet Union serving as guarantors.

Many prominent leaders of the Afghan resistance have died, but those still living took part in a recent ceremony held at the Arg (presidential palace).

Speaking at the event, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said: “Our current struggle against terrorism is just like the struggle back then against communism, and God willing, we will be successful.”

He went on to say the Afghan mujahedeen not only liberated their own country, but changed the course of history.

“The jihad in Afghanistan not only liberated Afghanistan, but eradicated oppressive regimes in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world,” Ghani said.

He added no one should forget the martyrdom of half a million Afghans whose sacrifices saved Europe and Central Asia from “slavery”.

“We have the right to be a proud nation”, the Afghan president added.

-Invasion

Also speaking at the commemoration was Mohammad Yonus Qanoni, a former mujahedeen leader. He said it was the commitment and unity of the Afghan fighters which led to a global consensus to support the anti-Soviet resistance, not the other way round.

For the first time in years, Hezbe-e-Islami -- led by former mujahedeen leader Gulbudin Hekmatyar -- took part in the official ceremony to mark the day.

The party signed a peace deal with the Kabul government in September, and their leader’s name has been removed from a UN sanctions list on the request of Ghani’s government.

Just like the mujahedeen, not many senior officials of the then pro-Moscow communist regime are alive.

Among the few that remain, Faqir Muhammad Faqir -- the then interior minister -- spoke to Anadolu Agency last year about the day the Soviets invaded.

“We were too confident and trustworthy of the Russians and didn’t anticipate what they did,” he said.

“President Hafizullah Amin, myself, the Chief of Army Staff Gen. Yaqoob Khan, and other officials were meeting Russian military officials in the palace about military aid etc. at around 7 p.m. on the night of Dec. 27 … all of sudden the Russians started shooting with rifles, [throwing] hand grenades,” Faqir recalled.

Before entering Kabul, the Russians had cut off the capital’s communication network. Some independent analysts blame President Amin’s repressive policies towards his foes and the internal rift among the communist fractions behind the Russian presence on Afghan soil.

Others believe the Cold War had reached the point of forcing the Red Army to solidify their southern front.

Sulaiman Layeq is another former communist-era minister and a widely acclaimed bilingual poet.

Layeq, who remained in Germany most of his life after the civil war during the 1990s, returned to his homeland some years ago and now serves at the Academy of Sciences in Kabul.

“I admit Afghanistan lost a lot, unimaginable due to the Soviet invasion, but I also deplore the way some quarters are exploiting the holy jihad politically,” he told Anadolu Agency.

The 28th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan comes at a time when Afghan leaders see Moscow once again meddling in Afghanistan.

Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, speaker of the Wolesi Jirga (lower house), warned Russia during the commemoration ceremony “not to repeat history by supporting the Taliban”.