CNN 20: Russian Troops Leave Afghanistan, February 15, 1989
BILL TUCKER, CNN ANCHOR: First, in today's "CNN 20" report, the end of a quagmire in Afghanistan.</s>UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These Soviet soldiers, the last getting out of Afghanistan, are the lucky ones. Fifteen thousand of their comrades didn't, were slain by a Muslim insurgency that couldn't be quelled. The Soviets, humiliated by the U.S.-armed but disorganized guerrilla resistance, are completing their withdrawal from the backward country after nine futile years. Columns of heavy armor that in the end proved ineffective in the rugged mountains of Afghanistan were loaded on trains for the trip back into the Soviet Union at Termez. The Soviets said the last of their garrison at the Kabul airport pulled out on a big Soviet Ilyushin 76 transport, leaving the defense of the capital completely in the hands of the well-armed but questionably-disciplined Afghan army. But Soviet sources say a crack team of about 20 paratroopers is staying behind indefinitely to rescue Afghan leader Najibullah if his government falls. The Soviets privately say they think the present Marxist regime can hold onto power for about four more months but agree with westerners who claim that Najibullah eventually will flee or be forced from power. (on camera): In Moscow, the Communist Party daily "Pravda" blasted former leader Leonid Brezhnev for having sent troops into the Kremlin's southern neighbor in the first place, saying the military threat was overrated, saying the nation's newly-invigorated parliament should have a voice in any future Soviet decision to intervene abroad. Steve Herr (ph), CNN, Moscow.