PEKING, Dec. 27, Reuter: The Soviet Union should set a reasonable timetable for withdrawal of all its troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said today in a statement marking this month’s seventh anniversary of Moscow’s military intervention in that country.
The ministry stated that the withdrawal earlier this year of six Soviet regiments from Afghanistan represented only a small percentage of Moscow’s “aggressor troops”, which it said were intensifying the war and endangering regional peace and security.
It said China would always firmly support the Afghan people in their struggle against foreign invasion and was ready to continue its efforts to promote a just and reasonable political settlement of the Afghan question.
The new China news agency published a separate commentary estimating that, as a result of the actions of more than 100,000 Soviet troops since 1979, more than one million Afghan people were dead and five million were homeless.
It said Afghan guerrillas “growing steadily up to 200,000 people” had killed or wounded about 40,000 Soviet soldiers, destroyed more than 1,800 Soviet tanks and armored cars, and shot down ups to 1,000 aircraft, mainly helicopters!” rs
Article extracted from this publication >> January 2, 1987
