ISLAMABAD, Nov 3, Reuter: Pakistan said it lodged a strongly-worded protest with the Soviet Ambassador in Islamabad on Thursday over the deployment in Afghanistan of Soviet long-range missiles capable of hitting Pakistani territory.
A government statement said the introduction of the new weapons constituted a flagrant violation of the U.N. mediated accords under which soviet forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan last May,
“To make such missiles available to the increasingly desperate regime in Kabul inflames the environment, aggravates tension, (and) invites retaliation,” it said.
Two of the rockets, called “Scuds” in the west, were paraded past the U.S. embassy in Kabul on Tuesday.
The Soviet News Agency Tass said the missiles were needed to allow the Afghan Army to hit rebel bases and supply dumps in retaliation for guerrilla rocket attacks on Cities.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 11, 1988
