The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

“We need to make sure that he doesn’t guess the true purpose of this business withthe license plate. Under no circumstances can he assume that it’s related to thedisappearance of the ministers,” warned Ivanov.That evening, the plan was successfully implemented.Readers may be wondering, what kind of barbarians would bury a new Toyota Crownin the ground? The operative drivers who were tasked with dismantling the car wonderedthe same thing. That was why they removed everything that might be used in Soviet cars, tobe taken to Moscow later. The rest of the car was gutted, cut into pieces, and buried withtears.As for the destiny of the fourth rebel, the former frontier affairs minister, Mazdouryar,he was not immediately executed because Amin’s people hoped to use him as bait inhunting down his three associates. Mazdouryar was thrown into prison, where he waitedfor a decision regarding his fate.The head of PGU, Kryuchkov, was very pleased to receive the report that the airplanecarrying the three fugitives had successfully left Bagram. Kryuchkov rarely imbibed anyalcohol and could not abide those who drank in excess, but that day he told Bogdanov overthe phone, “Have a drink today. You deserve it.” The happy colonel responded affirmatively.Kryuchkov immediately went to Lubyanka to report the success of the operation toAndropov. The covert evacuation of the Khalqis had been discussed at the very top, and thefinal decision to go ahead with implementation was sanctioned by Brezhnev himself. Thusthe Soviet Politburo had to know the results of the operation immediately.As he drove from Yasenevo to Moscow, Kryuchkov pondered the next stage ofdevelopments in Afghanistan. The Soviet leadership’s approval of the extradition of the583