The Road to Afghanistan - George Washington University

“Find out what they want and report back in the morning.”Midnight was approaching. Biryukov didn’t have any success at the embassy, and wenthome. Upon his return, he put every bottle of alcohol available in the residence on the table, alongwith whatever snacks he could find, and sat down to listen to the complaints of his Parchamivisitors. They made some telephone calls, but were speaking Pashto, which Leonid couldn’tunderstand. Some words that were familiar to him and the tone of the conversation sounded likethey were calling their military contacts and asking for something.The situation was completely ridiculous. In the middle of the night, the most prominentAfghan opposition leaders, the enemies of the ruling regime, sat and talked away in the residenceof a KGB operative. They openly cursed Taraki and Amin. They used Biryukov’s telephone to makethe calls, which was surely tapped by Afghan security services, and it looked as though they had nointention to leave until morning. Besides, how could they leave? Very few people would dare todrive through Kabul during curfew, even if they knew the right passwords. Obviously the fourParchamis’ situation was precarious, to say the least.Late at night, Biryukov made a final attempt to solicit assistance from outside. Heremembered that the former KGB resident Gavrilin, who had arrived in Kabul for a short visit,currently occupied the nearby villa. Valentin Trofimovich Gavrilin was an experienced member ofErshov’s group and was well versed in Afghan politics. However, the colonel, as everyone else,preferred not to get involved. Having learned that the embassy staff and Ershov had left Biryukovto deal with the problem on his own, Gavrilin told his neighbor to wait until the morning, when hewould be able to report the situation to his superiors.The guests left Biryukov’s villa at sunrise. Saying good-bye, Babrak Karmal looked intoBiryukov’s eyes and said with confidence, “You and I, Comrade Leonid, will be seeing each other187