Second Soviet Troop Unit Leaving Afghanistan Reaches Border Town
A second Soviet military unit withdrawing from Afghanistan arrived in the Soviet border town of Termez on Saturday, the Tass news agency said.
Local officials, youth delegations, friends and relatives greeted the convoy of troops as they arrived in Termez in the Soviet republic of Uzbekistan, the official news agency said.
Tass did not say how many soldiers were in the unit or where they had been based in Afghanistan. The first unit to leave arrived in Termez on Wednesday from Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan.
Soviet troops entered Afghanistan in December, 1979, to support a Marxist government. They remained to fight guerrillas backed by the United States, China, Pakistan and other countries.
The estimated 115,000 Soviet troops in Afghanistan are to be withdrawn by next Feb. 15 under an agreement signed in Geneva on April 14. Half of them are to out by Aug. 15, and their commander said one-fourth will be out by May 29, the beginning of the Moscow summit.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
