A soldier who went missing in Afghanistan 33 years ago has been found living with Afghans in the Western Province of Herat. The soldier has adopted an Afghan name, Sheikh Abdullah and now practices herbal medicine. Abdullah, originally known as Bakhretdin Khakimov, is an ethnic Uzbek who was found by ex-Soviet veterans of war on a recent trip to the area.

Abdullah was wounded in the battle in 1980 and was reportedly missing in action, months after the Soviet invasion and was rescued by locals.

Ruslan Aushev, head of the official veteran committee tracked down Abdullah in the Shindand district after a year long search for him. The committee lists some 264 Soviet soldiers still missing in Afghanistan, and the committee is determined to find all those missing. The committee’s deputy chairman, Alexander Lavrentyev said:

 Sheikh Abdullah bore the scars of his war wounds – a shaking hand and shoulder and nervous tic. The ex-soldier, from the city of Samarkand, was able to name his former place of residence in Uzbekistan and the names of his relatives.

[Source: BBC News]