KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th May, 2019) May 15 marks 31 years since the Soviet Union began its final troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, the opinions on which still differ.
In 1979, the Soviet Union decided to deploy its forces to Afghanistan at the request of the country's government, which was struggling to quell insurgence. The Soviet campaign was met with strong resistance from the mujahideen that fought a guerilla war, operating mostly in smaller groups.
A total of about 620,000 Soviet troops went to serve in Afghanistan throughout the whole time of the USSR deployment there.
Abdul Wahid Taqat, who was a senior intelligence official under then-President of Afghanistan Mohammad Najibullah, believes the Soviet Union made the right decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.
"The Soviet Union withdrew dignifiedly after installing a powerful, stable and Afghan-owned government," Taqat told Sputnik of Najibullah government.
Najibullah remained president of the country until 1992 when the mujahideen came to power in Afghanistan.
According to Taqat, Afghanistan had 600 fighter jets, over 4,000 armored tanks and a lot more that was lost during the mujahideen rule.
Others believe that the Soviet forces left Afghanistan without making sure that its neighbors would not interfere in the country.
"The Soviet Union did not withdraw responsibly from Afghanistan. They did not take enough guarantees that could fill their absence or protect Afghanistan against others," Afghan political writer Babrak Darwish told Sputnik.
Parwiz Sapay, a prominent Afghan journalist, thinks that many Afghans were unprepared for the Soviet Union to become directly engaged in the conflict.
"Afghans were not prepared for the Soviet Union to directly be involved in the country, but they were also not prepared for the withdrawal, but this left decades of war to us," Sapay told Sputnik.
Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops, a faction of the mujahideen, named the Taliban, emerged as force throughout southern Afghanistan. The faction quickly gained popular support and by 2001 it controlled all but a small section of northern Afghanistan.
During its rule, the Taliban allowed the al-Qaeda terrorist group (banned in Russia) to form cells and operate training camps in the country.
When the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were attacked in September 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people, the US government pinned that attack on Osama Bin Laden, who was the head of al-Qaeda at the time, and invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 after the Taliban refused to hand over Bin Laden.
Thus marked the beginning of the almost 17-year US-Afghan war and US occupation of the middle Eastern country.
Some Afghan citizens, who experienced both occupations, have reminisced about the positive impact the Soviet authorities had on the country, as opposed to the United States, which, as the locals claim, has not been investing in rebuilding Afghanistan's infrastructure.
One Kabul resident, who lived during USSR and under US occupation, reminisced about the Soviet Union's commitment to build infrastructural projects throughout Afghanistan as a way to help Afghanistan become self-reliant.
"See, the Russians made dams, ministry buildings, factories and many other buildings that are still being used," Ahmad khan Rahin, a 65-year-old resident of Kabul, said.
Another aspect that some Afghan citizens currently miss about the former Soviet occupation is that things like national interest and values were more clearly defined at that time.
"At that time, everything was clear, both government and enemy had clear objectives, values were defined. National and political red lines were clear and there was no corruption," Abdullah Sahil, a journalist, said.
Prior to the Soviet Union entering Afghanistan in 1979, Afghanistan and Russia enjoyed decades of friendly relations. In 1919, the Soviet Union was the first country to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with Afghanistan following the Third Anglo-Afghan war in which Afghanistan fought for its independence from the United Kingdom.
In 1921, the Afghanistan and the Soviet Union signed the Afghan-Soviet nonaggression pact, following which the Soviet Union provided Afghanistan with financial aid and technical assistance to build roads, canals and factories throughout the country.
