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Soviet Aide Indicates a Toll Of 12,000 to 15,000 in War
The Soviet Union lost up to 15,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, a Government press official said today.
The political observer of the Novosti press agency, Eduard Rosental, told reporters that a Western estimate of 12,000 to 15,000 deaths among Soviet forces during their eight and a half years in Afghanistan was approximately correct.
It was the first time a Soviet official had given any indication of the size of Soviet losses in Afghanistan. Officials have refused to specify the death toll or the number of Soviet troops deployed there.
Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze indicated last month that casualty and troop strength figures would be issued once the Russians began pulling their forces out of Afghanistan. The withdrawal began Sunday, as required under a peace accord signed April 14 in Geneva.
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