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Russia in Afghan Army deal

Russia will supply Afghanistan`s fledgling army with helicopters and equipment worth $30 million, the Interfax news agency reported this week. Russian military officials said that the aid would not include weapons or ammunition. Russia has already provided about $100 million in military equipment to Afghanistan in recent years.

The United States is leading efforts to develop Afghanistan`s army, still fighting Taliban-led rebels who have stepped up their attacks this year. Afghanistan`s army and police are aided by about 20,000 U.S.-led coalition troops and an 11,000-member NATO peacekeeping force.

Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 after a nearly decade-long conflict launched to support the country`s communist government. Russia later supported opponents of the hard-line Taliban leadership, which was ousted by a U.S.-led offensive in 2001, less than a month after the September 11 attacks in the United States.