Soviet intervention in Afghan a tragic mistake: Russian envoy to Pakistan - thehindu

No parallel between that and Russia’s support for the "legitimate regime" of Bashar al Assad: Alexey Y.Dedov.

The 1979 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan was a “tragic mistake,” Russia’s Ambassador to Pakistan Alexey Y. Dedov has said.

Addressing a seminar on ‘Russia’s position on Afghanistan and Syria’ at the Area Study Centre at Peshawar University in Peshawar, Mr. Deodov said Russian military support to Damascus was aimed at targeting violent jihadists, including the Islamic State (IS) and the Al-Qaeda-linked Jabha Al Nusra.

‘Not like support to Assad’

Describing the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan as a “tragic mistake,” Mr. Dedov said that there was no parallel between the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan and Russia’s support for the “legitimate regime” of Bashar al Assad.

In 1979, the Soviet Union intervened in Afghanistan to back the Marxist government of People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan to fight Mujahideens who were jointly backed by American CIA and Pakistan. He said Russia considered the IS a threat to its national security since around three thousands of its citizens had joined it, causing problems in the Russian region of Dagestan and other places.

‘In contacts with Afghan Taliban’

Mr. Dedov acknowledged that his county was in contacts with the Afghan Taliban to promote reconciliation in Afghanistan. - Read More 

Soviet intervention in Afghan a tragic mistake: Russian envoy 

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