Salang massacre remembered on anniversary of Soviet withdrawal

SALANG (TOLOnews): The massacre of 1,200 people by Soviet Union soldiers in the Salang district of Parwan province in the final days of the Soviet presence is among the most bloody events in Afghanistan’s recorded history.
On January 24, 1989, when the Red Army troops were on the verge of defeat and were crossing the Salang highway, they massacred the people of Salang district. The residents of Salang district said that so far, many governments have come to power, but no government investigated the massacre of the 1,200 people.
“1,200 people were martyred. When the Soviet Union was defeated in Afghanistan, they killed animals, children, youth, the old and every one,” said Agha Shireen Omari, the deputy of Salang district.
Abdul Zahir, who was 22 years old at that time, said that the Soviet Union troops killed six members of his family, including three women.
“When the Soviet Union forces saw men and women, they started firing and threw a grenade at them too,” he told TOLOnews.
Some of the victims of this bloody event were buried in a mass grave.
“They killed 16 members of our family. So far, no one has asked us about them,” Agha Mohammad, a relative of the victims told TOLOnews.
“When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, we were fighting them because they were pagans, we did not have a salary,” Ghulam Hazrat, a relative of victims, told TOLOnews.
The Red Army ultimately faced defeat and much of their weaponry remained in Afghanistan despite their advanced weaponry and air and ground strikes.
The remains of the Soviet weapons from the previous government were moved to Tapa-Surkh in the Parwan area of Jabal Saraj.
Faiz Mohammad, who battled against Soviet soldiers at the time, said that the presence of these weapons shows the resistance of Afghans against the Soviet Union.
“It was a horrific day, they were targeting houses with tanks without considering that there were children and women in it,” he told TOLOnews.
Previously, some of the Soviet-era weaponry were sent to Kabul by the Defense Ministry for maintenance. Parwan’s residents, however, requested that the Islamic Emirate build a museum in this province dedicated to the remnants of the Soviet Union’s weapons.