Afghanistan intends to purchase Russian Mi-35 helicopters: Official

‘A senior advisor to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani says Kabul is interested in buying Russian-built Mi-35 attack helicopters to boost its military prowess.

“We intend to buy Mi-35 helicopters from Russia. This issue is on the agenda. I think we will begin negotiations on that in the nearest future,” Shakir Kargar, the Afghan president’s special envoy on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan – said in an interview with Interfax news agency on Thursday.

He said Afghan armed forces are equipped with Russian weapons, and “some 500 Russian helicopters are flying in the Afghan sky. Therefore, we are buying guns, cartridges and other munitions from Russia.”’

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