Mi-17 is a bigger airframe and cabin to the -60. IIRC it was developed with ‘lessons learnt’ from the Soviet Afghan ‘adventure’ incorporated - not surprising then that it does well there. The Afghan’s have also been using -8s and -17s for years so they have significantly more corporate knowledge on how to operate it. However, the Achilles heel of these aircraft is a combination of often poor (by Western standards) avionics and the lack of certainty over the provision of spares and other technical support. UH-60 is a far better bet with regard to the latter two issues......if not in terms of space/performance.