MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/. The West should stop interfering in Afghanistan with its "wish lists," and then life in the country would improve thanks to the efforts of the Afghans themselves, Colonel General (Ret.) Boris Gromov, a Hero of the Soviet Union, told TASS in an interview.
"Now there are so many hot spots in different parts of the world that Afghanistan is somehow in the shadow of them. How will the situation in this country develop? It is difficult to predict. If outside forces cease interfering with their wish lists in Afghanistan, I think the Afghans themselves will organize their lives on their own. They are an old and wise people; they can make their country quite normal," Gromov, who commanded the operation to withdraw Soviet troops from Afghanistan, said in an interview dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan.
According to the retired general, ordinary Afghans who were not part of any mujahideen units were sincere and very good people. "They lived very poorly, but they were characterized by wisdom, humanity, and a benevolent attitude to people, including the Shuravi (the historical name in Afghanistan for natives of the USSR - TASS)," he said. "They may not have liked strangers much, but they had their own code of honor and behavior. They treated us, the Soviet people, very well, and we treated them likewise. We helped them a lot, building, supplying them with food. They appreciated it," he pointed out.
Gromov said that he had no desire to return to Afghanistan, although Afghans often invited him back. "I think the five-and-a-half years I spent in this country is enough," he added.
The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan was completed on February 15, 1989. Soviet troops entered Afghanistan on December 25, 1979, to support the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan, which had come to power in the April 1978 revolution, in its fight against mujahedeen militias. Soviet troops withdrew in accordance with the Geneva Accords of April 14, 1988, between Afghanistan, Pakistan, the USSR and the United States. During the Afghan conflict (1979-1989) the USSR suffered irreparable losses of about 14,000 people.
From June 1987 to 1989, Gromov commanded the 40th Combined Arms Army in Afghanistan; at the same time, he was the USSR government’s commissioner for the temporary deployment of troops in the country. He was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for successfully breaking the blockade of the city of Khost in Operation Magistral. In 1989, Gromov developed and directly supervised a plan for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of Afghanistan. He oversaw the troops’ departure across the Friendship Bridge over the Amu Darya River and was the last Soviet soldier to leave Afghanistan, crossing the bridge on foot.