In an exclusive interview granted to TASS, General Sayed Abdul Basir Saberi, the head of the logistics department of the Ministry of Defense in Afghanistan's interim government, spoke about relations with the United States, what types of Russian weapons and military equipment Afghanistan needs, and the measures to protect the country's borders.
- Mr. Saberi, in mid-August your country celebrated the third anniversary of the withdrawal of the NATO contingent. How would you comment on this event?
- It was not only our victory. It was a joint victory, a common victory. The Anglo-Saxons lost then - and they are losing to you [in the special military operation].
- What has changed with the pullout of the alliance’s troops from Afghanistan? What is the situation with NATO's presence on the ground in the country at the moment?
- There is not a single American [soldier] anywhere, 100 percent certainty.
- In the context of the fight against terrorism, how are Afghanistan's borders secured?
- Security for the people is guaranteed. The weapons and equipment we took from the Americans are being used to secure the border. Everything is fine. We can fully protect the borders. We have all the weapons we need for that.
One thing on the debit side: the Western countries accuse us of being “bad guys”. We are on the “blacklist” of such countries. Because of this, we cannot further develop and make friends with other countries.
- How do you see the aggressive policy of the West, primarily the US and Britain, towards Afghanistan?
- You say very correctly [that it is an aggressive policy]. It is really so: 20 years ago they came to us arrogantly, confident that they would manage to change something on our land [in their own interests].
But 20 years later they fled, some even in women's clothing. We did not touch [such NATO soldiers] on purpose, because they were dressed in women's clothes. May the whole world know who we are. We don't fight against women.
May they (the Anglo-Saxons - TASS) indulge in wishful thinking, may they try to do something. Over the 20 years they achieved nothing and, I think in the future they will achieve still less.
- The Afghan delegation took part in the Army Forum in 2022 and 2024. Countries like Russia are open to cooperation with Afghanistan, including that in the areas of defense and security. How can such cooperation develop?
- Yes, Russia has almost recognized us. So many times it has helped [Afghanistan], so many times it has invited us to conferences [on resolving the situation in Afghanistan]. And now it keeps helping [the country]. We are very grateful that it is helping us.
We are neighbors, we should support each other to the full. We have no problems with any country. At the international level we are ready to communicate with everyone and to be friends. We are open to all countries. We do not hide anything.
Should someone come to us with evil intentions, we will fight back. If someone comes to us with good intentions, we will reciprocate.
We have always been in favor of diplomatic relations. We will not let anyone violate our interests, but we also want to live in peace.
- What Russian-made military products are the Afghan armed forces interested in?
- I think we need air defense and airspace control equipment. We have ground equipment. I think we will purchase [such products] from you at the international level, when there are [international legal] conditions for this. In the future, we plan to buy Russian-made equipment that will enable us to create an air defense. We would like to have such weapons, as you are the most advanced country in the world in terms of these technologies.