CNN reported on March 6 that a soldier who went MIA (Missing in Action) during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1980 has been found alive.
The soldier, originally from Uzbek, had sustained a terrible head wound during the war and had been rescued and treated by members of an Afghan tribal village. He is currently living with the villages, going by the name Sheikh Abdullah, and works as a traditional healer.
The soldier, whose name is Bakhredtin Khakimov, was tracked down by the Warriors-Internationalists Affairs Committee, a nonprofit, Moscow-based organization that searches for Soviet Union soldiers who disappeared in Afghanistan .
Although Abdullah is happy with his current living situation, he is interested in meeting his Uzbek relatives, and the organization, which made contact with him two weeks ago, is working to arrange a visit.
The organization is still attempting to track down 263 Soviet soldiers who went missing during the Soviet-Afghan war. To date, they have successfully found 29 people; 22 of those were successfully returned to their homes in the former Soviet Union , and 7 chose to remain in their current situation in Afghanistan .
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