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| Afghan National Air Corps MI-35 helicopters (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Franz-Stefan Gady
A contract for the delivery of Mi-35 attack aircraft will be signed this month.
Russia is in talks with Afghanistan over the purchase of an unknown number of Mi-35 (likely the M or “Hind E” variant) combat helicopters, Sputnik News reports.
Russian presidential envoy to Afghanistan and head of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second Asia Department Zamir Kabulov told a Russian newspaper that Afghanistan’s first Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum has requested Moscow’s support to fight against ISIS insurgents.
“We plan to conclude a contract with the Afghan side in October on the delivery, on a commercial basis, of several Mi-35 combat helicopters,” Kabulov said.
The Afghan government already announced in April of this year, that it is interested in purchasing new Russian attack helicopters. “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,” an Afghan government official told Interfax back then.
The Afghan Air Force currently is already operating five heavily armored older Mi-35 gunships supplied by the Czech Republic in 2008 but they are rarely operational.
Read the full story at The Diplomat