Читать книгу The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War - Ali Ahmad Jalali - Страница 31

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by Asil Khan

(Asil Khan is a famous urban guerrilla who operated in and around Kabul. He belonged to the NIFA faction. Other notes and the DRA security plan consulted for this vignette. )

As early as 1980, Mujahideen began attacking Soviet columns along the major southwest highway connecting the Afghan capital ofKabul to Ghazni and Kandahar. This 480-kilometer stretch was vulnerable in many areas. The road between Cheltan and Maidan, just outside of Kabul, was continuously attacked by Mujahideen operating out of bases in the suburbs of Kabul, Paghman, Kurugh, Arghandehand Maidan. Initially, Soviet/ DRA forces would establish security out-posts at key points along the road every time they moved a column on the highway. According to the DRA security plan, different military units were responsible for sections of road and for manning the security outposts while Soviet or DRA convoys were moving through theirarea. Later on, as military traffic along the highway increased, units would routinely post security details at the outposts in the morning and pull them out at dusk. One of the outposts was located at the old fort of Qala-e Haidar, some 15 kilometers west of Kabul. This outpost was vulnerable to attacks by Mujahideen who would sneak up on the outpost from neighboring villages which were not under government control (Map 13 - Haidar).

In the beginning of October 1984, the DRA tired of the repeated Mujahideen attacks and did not man the outpost for many days. Asil Khan decided to conduct an ambush at Qala-e Haidar, although he knew that he could not hold the site for more than a few minutes after the ambush, since the DRA could quickly reach the outpost from adjacent outposts. On the night of 18 October 1984, Asil Khan led a 15-man team to Qala-e Haidar. There had been some road repair by the outpost and the road had been scraped down and graded. Asil Khan had his men bury three powerful remote-controlled mines in the road immediately in front of the outpost. They also buried or disguised the wires leading away from the mines to the ambush site. They spent two nights mining the highway and preparing fighting positions in the orchards and in a ditch in front of Qala-e Haider. Lookouts watched the road for approaching columns.

On the morning of 20 October, there were an unusual number of helicopters flying in the area. Asil Khan felt that this indicated that a convoy was leaving Kabul and so he moved his men into the ambush site and waited for the column to arrive. Around 1000 hours, a large supply column, escorted by tanks and APCs, approached the Mujahideen position. Helicopters were flying overhead. As the leading tanks and APCs reached the kill zone, the Mujahideen detonated the mines One tank blew up and the column came to a sudden halt. The Mujahideen opened fire on the column. But the Mujahideen were so concerned about making a fast getaway, that their fire was not too effective against the vulnerable column. They destroyed just one truck with their RPGs before they broke contact and fled unscathed to friendly territory in the west.