A former Soviet soldier who was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan back in 1987 spoke about his coming to Islam and the traditional Afghan way of life.

A 56-year-old citizen of Afghanistan, who calls himself Sherefovich Khakimov, lives in the city of Herat, professes Islam and considers himself an Afghan to the core.

In 1987, being among the Soviet contingent in Afghanistan, he was seriously wounded and captured by militants.

According to Khakimov, his brother Alexander was a deputy in the USSR, and his sister served as an adviser to the army. His parents were also high-ranking officers in the Soviet army, his father was an Armenian, and his mother was Jewish from Ukraine.

According to Anadolu Agency correspondent in Kabul, Bilal Guler, about 120 more Soviet soldiers were captured along with Khakimov, and their fate is unknown.

According to Khakimov, the militants demanded that he utter the words of the shahada, but he did not understand their meaning and thought that Muhammad was their leader, who would soon appear and determine his fate.

Thoughts about converting to Islam appeared in the prisoner much later, when he dreamed of a white-bearded man who advised him to become a Muslim. From that day Khakimov began to consider himself a Muslim and adapted to the Afghan culture. After almost 40 years in Afghanistan, he is fluent in Pashto and Farsi, reports bbabo.net citing TRT World.

When Khakimov was 25 years old, he was provided with housing and married to an Afghan woman. Unfortunately, she died in childbirth. The man's second wife passed away last year from cancer. Now an Afghan of Soviet origin lives on memories and admits that every day he goes to the grave of his second wife.

bbabo.Net