RETRO-AFGHANISTAN-SOVIET TROOPS WITHDRAWAL

Afghan children wave Afghan and Soviet flags 15 May 1988 near Kabul as Russian troops aboard a BRDM, Soviet-made armoured Combat Reconnaissance Patrol Vehicle, began their withdrawal from war-torn Afghanistan. The Soviet war in Afghanistan, also known as the Soviet-Afghan War, was a nine-year conflict involving Soviet forces supporting the Marxist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) government against the Mujahideen resistance. The initial Soviet deployment of the 40th Army in Afghanistan began on August 7, 1978. The final troop withdrawal began on May 15, 1988, and ended on February 15, 1989. AFP PHOTO DOUGLAS E. CURRAN (Photo by Douglas E. CURRAN / AFP) (Photo by DOUGLAS E. CURRAN/AFP via Getty Images)