Bakhretdin Khakimov, who was often called Sheikh Abdullah after changing to Islam, dies of carbon monoxide poisoning from a leaking heater in western Herat metropolis, officers say.
(AFP)
A former Soviet soldier who selected to remain in Afghanistan when the Crimson Military withdrew following a disastrous decade-long occupation that resulted in 1989 has died, officers mentioned.
Bakhretdin Khakimov, who was considered in his 60s and was often called Sheikh Abdullah, died of carbon monoxide poisoning from a leaking heater within the western metropolis of Herat, they mentioned on Wednesday.
“He died from inhaling fuel that comes out of heaters,” Ahmad Shah Mushfiq, head of Herat’s forensic division, informed the AFP information company, including that there have been no suspicious circumstances.
Authorities spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid provided his condolences to Abdullah’s household.
“He got here to Afghanistan with former Soviet forces and was taken prisoner,” Mujahid mentioned in a tweet.
“He later grew to become a Muslim, obtained married right here, and lived in Herat.”
(AFP Archive)
‘Afghans are very type’
Abdullah was an officer within the navy intelligence wing of the Soviet military, which occupied Afghanistan for 10 years after invading in 1979.
He was injured in battle round 1985, struggling a critical head wound, he informed AFP in an interview in 2015. He mentioned he owed his life to his Afghan enemies, who discovered him and handled him.
“I really feel very ashamed as a result of I broken this nation, precipitated losses to individuals,” he mentioned on the time.
“I stayed in Afghanistan as a result of Afghans are very type and hospitable individuals.”
Lately Abdullah, bearded and normally wearing conventional Afghan apparel, labored at a museum in Herat and in addition as a healer.
“He was man, Muslim,” good friend Saeed Ghulam Hassan informed AFP.
Askar Soviet Bakhretdin Khakimov. #nakfakta #nakbebel pic.twitter.com/2QsFueYm3l
— Nak Fakta (@nakfakta) July 17, 2018
After invading on Christmas Eve in 1979, the Crimson Military pulled out a decade later having misplaced practically 15,000 troops combating Western-backed Mujahideen forces. The struggle additionally value the lives of greater than 1,000,000 Afghans.
The Soviet defeat precipitated a civil struggle which gave rise to the Taliban and its first and quick stint in energy from 1996 to 2001 when US ousted it following 9/11 assaults.
Taliban rose again to energy after US troops vacated Afghanistan in August 2021, bringing an finish to America’s longest struggle after a chaotic and violent troop pullout.
Supply: AFP
