In a conversation with a Turmush correspondent, Tashmatov recounted that his call to the army took place in November 1983. “My fellow soldiers and I arrived in Samarkand (Uzbekistan). After six months of training, we were sent by train to Termez, and then by military plane to Kunduz in Afghanistan. Soon we were assigned to a regiment located in Faizabad. We, 18-year-old boys who had never encountered war, found ourselves at the center of events — right in the thick of it, where we spent two years until 1986. Major military operations occurred almost every day, sometimes 2–3 times a week. We engaged in combat on the orders of our commanders and based on intelligence data,” he recalls.
Tashmatov noted that, although almost 40 years have passed since then, one event remains etched in his memory forever. “In Faizabad, we were waiting for a shipment of provisions, ammunition, and equipment. When the cargo arrived by train, we would set out in a convoy in special vehicles. Once, while we were transporting food, the BMP ahead of us hit an enemy mine. There was a terrible explosion, and the multi-ton vehicle was lifted into the air by 5–6 meters, flipped over, and the fuel spilled and caught fire. The soldiers inside burned alive. We could not help them — it was impossible to approach the vehicle due to the intense flames. I still remember how we gathered the charred bodies of our comrades in tarpaulin to send them to the medical unit. There were many such attacks. The memory of my fallen combat friends haunts me the most,” the veteran shares his experiences.
Zhaanbay Tashmatov is now 61 years old. He fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a doctor after returning from the front and dedicated himself to medicine in Kyrgyzstan. “I went to war at 18 and returned at 21. After that, I enrolled in a medical institute in Novosibirsk and graduated successfully. In the first years, I worked at the regional dental clinic. Then, until 2001, I worked as a dentist at the Jalal-Abad Regional Children's Hospital. From 2001 to 2011, I was a doctor in military unit No. 704 in Manas. I am currently retired,” the veteran said.
