Sputnik: Since the Americans started replacing Russian firearms used by the Afghan security forces with US-made ones, Afghan officers and military experts have had a chance to compare the two and they all agree that the Russian Kalashnikovs are hands down better than their US counterparts. In an interview with Sputnik, Safiullah Mirbacha, the head of a police precinct with more than 1,000 police officers
The National Interest: During the early days after the 9/11 attacks and the initiation of the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan it was relatively common to reference the woeful Soviet experience in that country. Here was a clear paradigm of what not to do in order to avoid getting stuck in a quagmire. Surely, American leaders would
Newsweek: Army General John Nicholson, the longest-serving commander in the longest war in U.S. history, recently told local U.S.-funded media that, although he was aware of allegations that Russia had provided limited assistance to the Taliban militant group, he could not independently verify the claims. Days after a Congress-mandated report shed light on a losing battle
Sputnik: “Moscow has always helped us, even when its forces invaded Afghanistan at the invitation of then-president Babrak Karmal. We surely fought each other at those times, but you [Russia] used to build schools and hospitals in Afghanistan. Americans lie when they say that al-Qaeda emerged as the result of your invasion. They used the war
Ayaz Gul VOA News April 4, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan and Russia have been able to “transcend” their history of mistrust and rivalry, leading to a rapid improvement and expansion in bilateral political, military and economic ties, says Pakistani Defense Minister Khurram Dastgir. The minister, currently attending an international security conference in Moscow, told VOA prior
Michael Hughes: It has become fashionable in many circles to fault Russia for all the world’s ills and the conflict in Afghanistan is no different. U.S. military leaders, in search of another handy excuse for the colossal failure of its 16-plus-year occupation, have continued to insist that Moscow is arming the Taliban – a group that,
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 30, 2018 Russia’s special envoy to Afghanistan has dismissed claims by the Pentagon that Moscow has provided arms to the Taliban during its 16-year war against U.S. forces and the Afghan government. Zamir Kabulov said at a news briefing in Moscow on March 29 that the Taliban had been able
AP: As Pakistan navigates its troubled relationship with the United States and scrambles to avoid being blacklisted for doing too little, too late to stop terror funding, regional alliances are shifting and analysts ponder whether a cozier relationship with countries like Russia will complicate efforts to move toward peace in neighboring Afghanistan. Click here to read
Ayaz Gul VOA News February 24, 2018 ISLAMABAD – The United States military has rejected Moscow’s claim the number of Islamic State militants in Afghanistan runs into the thousands, while at the same time urging Russia and Iran to support the Kabul government, not the Taliban, to help defeat IS in the country. Commander of U.S.
Tolo News: February 15 marks the anniversary of the complete withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan after a bloody nine-year war. The war lasted nine years and in that time an estimated one million civilians, including children, were killed, along with 90,000 Mujahideen fighters, more than 20,000 Afghan troops and over 14,000 Soviet soldiers. Click here