(15 Feb 1999) English/Nat
VOICED BY: NICOLE CLEMENTS
It's ten years since the last soldier from the Soviet Union left Afghanistan.
The Soviet pull-out ended a decade of war that killed more than a million Afghans and 15-thousand Soviet troops.
Afghanistan was left bitterly divided and its story in the past ten years has been one of continued fighting as groups still compete for control.
VOICE-OVER:
0.02
Afghanistan remains a country divided.
In the northern town of Faizabad, the President's bodyguards wait outside his office.
0.08
Inside, President Rabbani cuts a lonely figure.
A man still recognised as the Afghan President by most of the world, but forced to live in northern Afghanistan after being ousted from the capital Kabul by the Taliban.
His government only controls about 10 percent of the country.
0.29
UPSOUND: (Dari) - Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani, President of Afghanistan
0.31
Professor Rabbani has been President for most of the 10 years since the Soviet withdrawal and says his hopes for an end to the fighting faded after the Russians left.
0.40
The emergence of the Taliban at the end of 1994 has further complicated an already intractable problem.
0.47
The result has been more fighting - these troops are on their way to Taloqan, the closest town to the front line with the Taliban in the north.
It's the centre for anti-Taliban military activity and headquarters to its military commander, Ahmad Shah Masoud, one of the key figures instrumental in ousting the Soviet forces.
1.08
His reputation is drawing a new generation of fighters to join him against the Taliban.
1.12
UPSOUND: (Dari) - Ahmad Shah Massoud, Anti-Taliban military commander
1.15
He says he remembers the Soviet withdrawal with only a small sense of victory, and believes there will never be a military solution to the Afghan problem.
1.24
The front lines are quiet for the moment and Massoud's soldiers play volleyball in their down-time.
1.31
The bridge just outside Taloqan is laden with people returning to their villages near the front line after market day.
These people don't know what the next day will bring -- the situation is always unstable. It's been this way for 20 years and no-one sees it changing.
ENDS: 1:47
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