Anti-soviet ex-prez of Afghanistan dies
Afghanistan’s first president following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the country and the collapse in 1992 of Kabul’s pro-communist government, Sibghatullah Mujadidi, has died. He was 93.
The white-turbaned and softspoken Mujadidi was a mentor to former President Hamid Karzai, who had belonged to his anticommunist resistance group during the 1980’s Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Mujadidi’s guerrilla group — the Us-backed Afghan National Liberation Front — was perhaps the smallest and most moderate of guerrilla groups fighting to oust the former Red Army from Afghanistan.
The Soviet invasion came at the height of the Cold War between America and the former Soviet Union. The last Soviet soldier withdrew from Afghanistan on Feb. 15, 1989, ending a 10-year invasion that had failed to defeat
KABUL :
the U.s.-backed anti-communist guerrillas who were known at the time as mujahedeen, or holy warriors.
President Ronald Reagan called the mujahedeen freedom fighters. Some later became the Taliban while others were known as warlords who later turned political leaders in Afghanistan. Some rights activists have accused the warlords of fomenting Afghanistan’s post-2001 decline, contributing to the nation’s insecurity and widespread corruption. AP