In May 1988, after 8 years of fighting there, the Soviet army began withdrawing from this country
... Today, with the withdrawal of NATO combat troops looming, there is the ... 
their unit ' s banner, were leaving Afghanistan after nine years and ... and 
Afghanistan had fixed a date to begin the withdrawal  15 May 1988... [DOC] [TLE] Timeline Russia 1988-1995 [PAR] Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced the withdrawal of Soviet troops.