43rd Anniversary of Soviet Union’s Invasion of Afghanistan

Dec. 27 marks the 43rd anniversary of the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. On this day in 1979, nearly 100,000 members of the former Soviet forces invaded Afghanistan.

A number of Islamic Emirate leaders called it a dark day for Afghanistan.

“If we don’t consider every person of this nation as our brothers, we will commit injustice against this nation,” said Abdul Salam Makhdoom, the deputy minister of public works.

According to some reports, the war triggered by the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan has left more than one million Afghans dead. More than 14,000 soldiers of the Soviet Union were killed.

“They attacked Afghanistan on the sixth of Jadi. All the problems we see today are due to that dark day,” said Torialai Zazai, a political analyst.

“The 6th of Jadi was the start of the destruction of Afghanistan. Since then, Afghanistan has never seen a good day, and this is unfortunate that conflicts, killings and destructions are still underway,” said Aziz Maarij, a political analyst.

Forty-three years after the Soviet invasion, some Afghans still remember bitter memories from the war.

“The achievements of the Soviet forces is that this nation is still witnessing conflicts and is in a poor condition, said Abdul Khaliq,” a Kabul resident.

On February 15, 1989, Boris V. Gromov was the last soldier of the Soviet Union who left Afghanistan.