DUSHANBE, February 9, 2009, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan is making preparations for the 20th anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan, which is marked on February 15.
In Dushanbe, Afghan war veterans gather at the monument to the Hero of Soviet Union Alexander Mironenko. A ceremonial meeting dedicated to this anniversary will be held at the monument to Alexander Mironenko on the following Sunday. The meeting is organized by the Council of Tajik Veterans of the War in Afghanistan.
According to the Council of Tajik Veterans of the War in Afghanistan, more than 15,000 Tajik nationals were sent to Afghanistan; of them, 366 were died and more than 1,000 others were wounded in that war. Five Tajik nationals were given the title of Hero of Soviet Union; one of them – Alexander Mironenko was given this title posthumously.
9,400 veterans of Afghan war currently live in Tajikistan.
Soviet forces were introduced in Afghanistan in the summer of 1979. The war was known as Soviet war in Afghanistan (also known as the Soviet-Afghan War or the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan) was a nine-year conflict involving Soviet Union troops supporting the Marxist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) government against the Islamic mujahideen resistance. The latter group found support from a variety of sources including the United States, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and other Muslim nations in the context of the Cold War.
The Afghan government repeatedly requested the introduction of Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the spring and summer of 1979. They requested Soviet troops to provide security and to assist in the fight against the mujahideen rebels. On April 14, 1979, the Afghan government requested that the USSR send 15 to 20 helicopters with their crews to Afghanistan, and on June 16, the Soviet government responded and sent a detachment of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and crews to guard the government in Kabul and to secure the Bagram and Shindan airfields.
Initially Soviet deployment of the 40th Army in Afghanistan began on August 7, 1979. The final troop withdrawal began on May 15, 1988, and ended on February 15, 1989.
