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Nearly 25 years after Soviet troops left Afghanistan in defeat, Russia may return – in order to service the Russian equipment that makes up the backbone of the Afghan military.

Almost a quarter century after Soviet troops left Afghanistan in defeat, Russia may return to the country by establishing "maintenance bases" for Russian-made military equipment after NATO winds down its operations there next year, defense ministry officials have confirmed.

"It is important to maintain the weapon systems and military equipment of the Afghan armed forces in a serviceable state," Sergei Koshelev, head of the Russian defense ministry's international cooperation department, told journalists late last week.

Moscow is extremely worried "that any escalation of the situation in Afghanistan after NATO troops pull out in 2014 could have a negative impact on the security of both Russia and other European nations," he added. More at http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/0401/Russia-going-back-to-A
fghanistan-Kremlin-confirms-it-could-happen?nav=87-frontpage-entryNineItem

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