Legendary Kara Major passed away

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ALMATY. KAZINFORM The most famous veteran of the Afghan War, Commander of the 177th Special Forces Squadron, legend of the Kazakhstan Armed Forces, retired colonel Boris Kerimbayev passed away in Almaty today.

Chairman of the Coordination Council of the Public Associations of the Participants of the Afghan War and other local conflicts Murat Abdushukurov confirmed this information to Kazinform correspondent. "He has died in the morning following a long illness. The information about the place and time of the funeral service will be published later," he said.

Boris Kerimbayev was born 12 January 1948 in Prudki village of Dzhambul municipality in Almaty region. Upon finishing the local secondary school in 1966 he was admitted to Tashkent-based V.I.Lenin Higher Command College. After graduation in 1970, he was sent to Germany for a service as a commander of a motorized rifle platoon.

In 1973 he was appointed a commander of a reconnaissance troop. In 1975, he was sent to the Red Banner Central Asian Military Unit as a reconnaissance troop commander. In 1977, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff and later as a commander of a motorized rifle battalion at the military unit No.52857 in Temirtau. In January 1981, Boris Kerimbayev was appointed a commander of the 177th special forces squadron established on the ground of the 22nd separate special mission brigade. Namely this appointment became a turning point in Boris Kerimbayev's life.

The 177th Special Forces Squadron was known for carrying out the most dangerous and most responsible operations. Renamed in 1984 as the Gazniyskiy Motorized Rifle Battalion, it fought in the most troubled areas of Afghanistan: Salang Pass, Jellalabad, Kabul and Bagram. In 1989, the troop was among the last to leave Afghanistan.

Boris Kerimbayev got his Kara Major (Dangerous Major) nickname namely in Afghanistan when he was a commander of the Muslim Battalion which consisted of Kazakh, Tajik, Uzbek, Kirgiz soldiers.

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