MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. Colonel General (Ret.) Boris Gromov, a hero of the Soviet Union, Afghan war veteran and former Moscow Region governor, told TASS of clandestine meetings, coded messages and his thoughts during the campaign in Afghanistan.

In the interview, timed to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, the general who was in charge of the withdrawal operation shared his recollections on reaching an agreement with guerilla commander Ahmad Shah Massoud on letting a convoy of Russian troops through the Salang Pass without a fight. "I met with him once before the troop withdrawal. This was in May 1988. Before that, we were exchanging letters, sending them over through scouts. We discussed everything, sorted out all problems, organized interaction to avoid any unforeseen events. We had code words, additionally, we encrypted our interaction so no one else could write on Ahmad Shah’s behalf," Gromov noted.

As he recalls, the last time they agreed to meet was not far from the quarters of the 177th regiment, in the foothills where the mountainous part of the road to Salang begins. "The road to Panjshir was going right, and the main Kabul - the Salang Pass - Torghundi road was heading straight. We met at the intersection of the two roads without bodyguards. We talked for about five minutes, confirmed our agreements. After that, we often exchanged messages," Gromov said.

According to him, field commander Massoud was a "decent person" despite the fact that he was one of the main adversaries for Soviet troops. "Ahmad Shah Massoud understood everything perfectly well. People who lived in the Panjshir Gorge loved him. Massoud was a very reliable person. If he made a promise, one could be 100% sure that he would keep it," Gromov noted.

The general also divulged his first thoughts after the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was complete. "To myself, I said something like this: 'Thank God this is over.' I was too worn out to talk. There were also other words better left unsaid," he noted.