KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — When the Soviet Army pulled out of Afghanistan decades ago, it left behind rusty tanks, the wreckage of helicopters and a Ukrainian man who now goes by the name Nek Mohammad. “That’s it,” General Gromov told a television crew. Mr. Mohammad was one of them, and he has now lived here long enough to see Russia seemingly drawn back into Afghan intrigue. At the time, though, Russians spoke of having an Afghan Syndrome, like the Vietnam Syndrome in the United States; they wanted nothing to do with the country. Advertisement Continue reading the main story“Russia had a bitter time,” said Mr. Mohammad, who has spent the last 35 years living in various mud-walled homes in northern Afghanistan.

Source: New York Times March 24, 2018 15:22 UTC