CHAPTER 4
Attacking a strong point is often similar to conducting a raid and many of the same tactical considerations and techniques apply. Attackers quickly abandon their objective after a successful raid, while there is usually an intent to hold a captured strong point for some period of time. Therefore, an attack on a strong point generally involves more supplies and heavier armaments. Most often, the strong points were political centers which the Mujahideen, wanted to hold for propaganda value.
VIGNETTE 1 — TAKING ALINGAR DISTRICT CAPITAL by Nawaz Khan, Doctor Abdul Qudus Alkozai and Haji M. Siddiqullah{52}
In July of 1980, the subdistrict capital of Nengrach was collocated with the Alingar District Capital in the town of Alingar. This is because the Mujahideen had driven the government out of the mountain redoubt of Nengrach. The district government of Nuristan was also there. This was a common practice. The DRA maintained many “governments in exile” for areas they did not control and held “nationwide” congresses using emigrants to represent those uncontrolled areas. The DRA never controlled more than 15% of the countryside. We decided to eliminate all these governments by seizing Mingar town. It proved to be a major victory.
The DRA 81st Regiment had a battalion in Mingar and there were some DRA militia forces as well.{53} (Map 4-1 Mingar 2) We had two contacts in the DRA garrison. One was Captain Yar Mohammad who had a brother in our Mujahideen group. Captain Mohammad was from nearby Koh-e Safi and routinely provided us information about government plans. We talked to the Captain about capturing Mingar and he agreed to help us. We introduced the Captain to our other contact, Piroz. Piroz was a cook in the DRA garrison. We gave drugs to Piroz. The Captain and Piroz agreed that Piroz would drug the food before our attack and that the captain would signal us when that was done and we could launch our attack. We asked the cook how many Mujahideen we should bring. “Not too many to cause trouble, but not too few to fail” he replied. “Okay, about 70,000” we joked. “No, only about 10,000” he joked back. In any case, the Mujahideen sympathizers in the DRA camp would kill the communist officers. The signal to attack was the firing of a magazine full of tracer ammunition.
There were about 300 total Mujahideen formed in four groups and about 30 subgroups. We called the group commanders together and told them to concentrate their men at night in Tokhi Khwar about one kilometer from the district headquarters. We told them that we had inside contacts but provided no details. We also assigned a group of Mullas with megaphones to begin broadcasting after the attack. They were to persuade the besieged DRA to surrender. H-hour was midnight.
There were 150 Mujahideen in Nawaz Khan’s group. They were armed with three DShK heavy machine guns, two 82mm recoilless rifles, some mortars and Kalashnikov rifles. Dr. Qudus group had one Soviet PPSH submachine gun, some bolt-action rifles and some other weapons. Several Mujahideen were unarmed. The other Mujahideen groups were similarly equipped. The signal to attack was given 10 minutes early. The tracers ripped into the air. Although the drugged food did not have its desired effect, Piroz and 10 other Mujahideen sympathizers had killed their communist officers. The DRA battalion surrendered to us as we stormed inside the battalion compound. The first one in was Doctor Nasar who just this year finished his education in Egypt.
It was the 1st of July 1980. The Mujahideen had deployed forces to the north, south and west of the district center. One group attacked the DRA security posts on Baghal mountain to the northwest. One group attacked along the main road which ran east of the river. One group attacked to seize and cross the bridge. One group attacked the DRA posts on the Amir Shahid hill to the southeast. The DRA military did not want to fight us, however, the local militia units were reluctant to surrender and fought on. The militia were still protecting the government enclaves of Alingar, Nuristan and Nengrach. The military then cooperated with us and turned their guns on the militia. A fierce battle ensued with the Mujahideen and military fighting the militia. During the fighting, the district governor of Alingar and eight or nine aides managed to escape to Mehtar Lam. Still, we captured Alingar and eliminated the DRA governments of Nengrach and Alingar. Thirteen officials from Nuristan made a break, but were cut down in our cross fire. The governor of Nuristan was killed by a Mujahideen whose brother had been killed by this same governor. At one point, Sidiqullah saw Saidagul, the Alingar Communist Party Secretary, being dragged off by a group he did not recognize. Since he had lent his rifle to a friend, Sidiqullah was unarmed and so he struck two stones together to imitate a bolt action rifle action and challenged them. Mawlawi Rahim identified himself and stated that they had captured a DRA soldier. Sidiqullah identified Saidagul and told them that they had a much more important catch. The fighting continued through the night, the Mujahideen moving to cut off the fleeing DRA officials and pursuing them in the dark. The fighting ended in time for morning prayers.
One of the groups involved in the fighting was a group of teenagers from 13 to 18 years old who we called the Khandakiano (bull terriers) group. During the fighting, one 14-year-old was fighting a desperate hand-to-hand combat with a DRA sports captain named Sharif. Fortunately, another Mujahideen killed Sharif during the fight.
We killed 285 DRA officials, police, soldiers, militia and civilians.{54} We captured 80 heavy weapons, two armored vehicles and 1,200 small arms. The heavy weapons included one 76mm mountain gun, one 76mm field gun, some ZGU-1 heavy machine guns, a 107mm mortar, several DShK heavy machine guns, and some 82mm mortars. Many government people also surrendered to us. It was a bonanza. In Nawaz Khan’s group, they lost three KIA and seven WIA. In Sidiqullah’s group they lost two KIA. We kept the district capital for some time until a joint Soviet/DRA force pushed us out and reestablished DRA government in Alingar.
COMMENTARY: Alingar is about 30 kilometers from the province capital of Mehtar Lam. At this point of the war, the Mujahideen were determined to control political centers so that they could claim to be a legitimate government in Afghanistan. The DRA was equally determined to prevent this.
VIGNETTE 2 — THE BATTLE FOR PANJWAYEE based on an interview with Mulla Malang{55}
In September 1982, the DRA, backed by Soviet forces, had firm control of Panjwayee, the district capital of Panjwayee District (Map 4-2 Panjwayee). Panjwayee is located some 25 kilometers southwest of Kandahar. The district was militarily significant to both sides since the town and its surrounding hills provided a favorable base for military action in the green zones which stretch all the way to the city of Kandahar. This area was also the hot bed of resistance in the region. Seizing control of Panjwayee was in the interest of all the local Mujahideen groups based in the area. Therefore, about 1,000 Mujahideen assembled near. Panjwayee to take the town. The operation was directed by HIK commander Mulla Malang and others.
The town was defended by up to 300 militia who lived there with their families. The militiamen had turned their houses and all other buildings into fortified positions. They placed bunkers on the roof tops and occupied and fortified the high ground overlooking the town and the approaches to it. The Mujahideen began by surrounding the town and shelling it for two days. The shelling had little effect on the defenders, but the Mujahideen soon found themselves the object of enemy artillery fire and aerial bombardment. Most of the Mujahideen withdrew into the neighboring villages of Sperwan and Zangabad.
On the third day, Commander Mulla Malang decided to penetrate the town with a small group and to seize control of a number of the dominant positions that covered the approaches to the town. At noon, Mulla Malang led a group of 25 Mujahideen to the southern edge of the town. They carried picks and shovels. They quietly dug a hole through the adobe wall and broke into a house. Once inside, they began to advance from house to house by knocking holes into the walls. Their advance was totally unobserved by the militia who were occupying the rooftop positions overlooking the streets of the town. The Mujahideen finally knocked a hole through a wall that opened onto a courtyard. They burst into the courtyard with weapons at the ready. The militiamen were caught by surprise. They assumed that the town was already captured by the Mujahideen, and fled from the town. Mulla Malang’s group established a secure area and signaled the Mujahideen outside the town. Soon, hundreds of other Mujahideen poured into the town and cleared it from the southeast to the northwest, ending on the bank of the Arghandab River. They cleared the town building by building, again avoiding the streets by advancing by knocking holes in the walls. Other Mujahideen immediately climbed to the roof tops and manned the abandoned positions. Only the district headquarters remained under militia control. That night, the Mujahideen consolidated their gains and captured the district headquarters the next day.
The militia had suffered heavy casualties and retreated to the over-watching high ground of a neighboring hill. The Mujahideen surrounded the militia positions. The government forces then opened negotiations with the Mujahideen—apparently to gain time. As they were talking, an armored Soviet/DRA column arrived from Kandahar. The Mujahideen withdrew inside Panjwayee.
The following night, the Soviet and DRA forces attacked Panjwayee and a heavy house-to-house battle ensued. The Mujahideen fired from the roof tops at the government forces advancing along the streets. Eventually, the Soviet/DRA combat power made the Mujahideen position untenable. The Mujahideen withdrew in small groups under the cover of darkness. The regime restored the district government in Panjwayee.
COMMENTARY: The Mujahideen gradually learned that overrunning and seizing control of government administrative centers is easy, but retaining them usually resulted in rapid Soviet or DRA retaliation. The Soviets/DRA felt that they had to retain control of local government agencies and would go to great lengths and take high risks to defend local administrative centers, even when they were tightly besieged by the resistance. Control of a district center symbolized control of the district, though this was seldom the case. In some remote districts, government control was restricted to a few buildings in the center of the district town. The government spared no effort to maintain their presence in these remote district centers despite their insignificant military usefulness and the high costs, in men and material, of holding them. This policy was promoted by the political importance of maintaining control, albeit nominal, over all provinces, districts and subdistricts in a country which was in revolt against the foreign-installed government.
The battle of Panjwayee is an example of how easily the resistance could seize control of an isolated district center and how vulnerable the resistance became once it was forced to defend the town in the face of overwhelming Soviet/DRA forces. For this reason, it was only toward the end of the Soviet occupation that the Mujahideen again moved to seize control of major district and provincial centers. The source of the resistance power was not the cities and towns but the rural areas and the hundreds of the cross-border supply and infiltration routes which they controlled throughout the war.
Tactically, a 25-man detachment accomplished what a 1,000 man force could not. They did this through surprise and the indirect approach. However, the lack of an overall operational command left the Mujahideen vulnerable. After seizing Panjwayee, the Mujahideen became overconfident and failed to prepare for the enemy counterattack. They confidently parleyed with the militia while the Soviet/DRA force formed and moved. The Mujahideen failed to consolidate their victory and to establish defensive positions on the hills to the east and west of Panjwayee and on the Arghandab River to the north. They failed to post reconnaissance and ambush forces on the likely enemy avenues of approach. Instead of having to fight their way through a series of ambushes and then bumping into outlying Mujahideen fortified positions, the Soviet/DRA relief force moved unopposed to the battlefield and surprised the victorious Mujahideen at Panjwayee.
Tactically, the Mujahideen realized that movement along streets is suicidal in urban combat. However, the spontaneous nature of the unpaid, volunteer Mujahideen made control very difficult. Mujahideen forces joined the battle and left as they wished. Often, they did not bother to let the coordinating commander know.
VIGNETTE 3 — ATTACK ON THE BODYALAY GARRISON by Doctor Mohammad Sadeq{56}
A DRA border guard battalion{57} at Bodyalay near Shewa District had security posts on the high ground commanding the Dara-i-Nur Valley which stretches northward from Bodyalay. We decided to attack the security posts in March 1983 (Map 4-3 Bodyalay). We had 65 Mujahideen armed with one DShK heavy machine gun, one 82mm mortar, four RPG-7s, 22 Kalashnikovs and other small arms. At that time, we did not have a permanent base but moved from village to village in the Dara-i Nur Valley. We came down from the mountains in the north through the side valley that opens onto Ziraybaba about eight kilometers to the east. From that valley, we moved on mountain paths to reach the eastern flank of the main valley at Bodyalay Mountain We positioned the DShK and mortar near the peak of Bodyalay Mountain. I divided our force into four groups. One group deployed against the south side of the battalion garrison to pin them in position and cut off any aid from the south. The second group deployed against the government base at the village of Darah-e Nur to pin them down. The third group deployed against the two battalion outposts on Bodyalay Mountain. The fourth group was the support group which manned the DShK and mortar on the top of Bodyalay Mountain.
We started our attack after midnight. One mortar shell scored a direct hit on a government OP and killed one and wounded five of the enemy defenders. We were fighting for 2 hours and 30 minutes but were unable to overrun either of the outposts. As the day dawned, we had to withdraw since we were surrounded by enemy forces and were about to lose the advantage of night. We withdrew over the same mountain paths. I had two wounded Mujahideen from the attack.
COMMENTARY: The Mujahideen force harassed the DRA battalion, but lacked sufficient combat power to overrun any of its outposts since much of its force was deployed to prevent the DRA forces from moving to reinforce the besieged outposts. Even if the attack succeeded, the attackers would have only had time to grab weapons and other spoils and leave. The Mujahideen force escaped over the same route that they arrived on. If the DRA informer net was effective, the Mujahideen were risking ambush on their return. The Mujahideen had no radios or other rapid communications and so control of the battle was problematic at best.
VIGNETTE 4 — ATTACK ON SORUBAY by Toryalai Hemat{58}
There were a lot of DRA sympathizers in the Nazian Valley. We called this area “Little Moscow”, as did the many Arabs in the area who had joined us in jihad.{59} The district headquarters of the Nazian Valley is Sorubay. All the residents of Sorubay were communist sympathizers. We decided to seize the district center in July 1985 (Map 4-4 Sorubay). It was a combined action by the forces of Hikmatyar, Sayyaf, Mohammadi and Khalis (HIH, IUA, IRMA and HIK). There were about 1,000 Mujahideen in various bases in the Maro Mountain stronghold area.
Sorubay District center is 12 kilometers north of the Melava base and Maro Mountains—about a six-hour hike through the mountains. I had 80 men in my command and we were well armed. I had three BM12s, some medium mortars and many heavy machine guns in my group. This was a major attempt by us to seize the Nazian District government and in many respects was closer to conventional war than guerrilla war. For two weeks, Mujahideen supply trains resupplied Melava base, replenished our ammunition and our MRL rockets. We prepared for the attack for an additional week and then moved from Maro Mountain down into the Nazian Valley. Early in the morning, we deployed our first groups against the DRA OPs which sat on the small mountains overlooking Sorubay. There were about 12 security OPs on the mountains surrounding Sorubay, so the attack on the center started with the attack on the security posts. After conducting heavy fire on these posts, we attacked and seized them. We captured Sar Ghar and Tor Ghar security posts by 1000 hours. Then we started shelling the district center and descended on Sorubay. Government officials, DRA soldiers and their families started fleeing. They left in such a hurry that when we entered Sorubay, we discovered that the occupants had left their dinners still cooking and bread dough was waiting to be baked. We captured many important government documents which we sent to Peshawar. We sent our DRA captives to Landay. I lost seven KIA during the attack. We stayed in Sorubay overnight.
The enemy responded by sending forces from Jalalabad. Heavy enemy artillery fire began to fall on the OPs located on the high ground. Aircraft hit us as enemy armored vehicles neared the district center. We could not hold the district center against the air and artillery and so we vacated the place. During this fighting, we lost many people. I lost another seven KIA in my group. We left one of our dead, Ahmad Said, behind. He used to wear camouflage fatigues. The next day the DRA radio stated that they had identified Chinese mercenaries among our dead. Perhaps this was Ahmad. Two days later, we attacked Sorubay again and I lost yet another seven MA. I had lost 21 of 80 men in this action. I don’t know what the enemy casualties were, but I personally saw 15 bodies when we captured Sorubay. We returned to our bases.
COMMENTARY: There was a political advantage to holding district capitals, as it conferred a degree of legitimacy on the Mujahideen. However, these capitals were usually located on accessible ground and were not sited for defense against modern artillery and air power. In this instance, the Mujahideen moved from guerrilla warfare to a set-piece battle to capture Sorubay and were victorious. However, their attempt to hold the prize resulted in heavy losses and no political advantage.
The outposts overlooking Sorubay appear to have been sited rather haphazardly with little planning for mutual support. The DRA evidently fragmented their force to little advantage.
VIGNETTE 5 — STORMING GULA’I by Haji Malangyar{60}
The Nangrahar agricultural/irrigation project was located in Shinwar District, Nangrahar Province southeast of Jalalabad. The massive irrigation project was built with Soviet help and guarded by several DRA military garrisons. (No Map) A battalion and some militia units protected the irrigation system. The battalion was garrisoned at the main water pump some 1.5 kilometers north of Gula’i. Gula’i is three kilometers northwest of Ghanikhel. A canal runs parallel to the main road north of Ghanikhel and a militia unit guarded a bridge on this road. Another battalion protected a bridge further to the northwest.
Our base at Marochina, was seven kilometers west of Gula’i. There were no people left in Gula’i since everyone had migrated. I had 59 Mujahideen armed with an 82mm mortar and 12 RPG-7s. The 8th of July 1985 was the last day of fasting in Ramadan. The next day would be the Feast of Ramadan (Eid-al-Fitr). We felt that many DRA soldiers would celebrate the festival at home making this a good time to attack. As was our custom, we prayed to God and put the Koran inside the cloth tsadar. We held the tsadar high and had every Mujahideen pass under it to ask God’s blessing on us. We walked to Gula’i and spent the night of July 8th in an abandoned house. I selected four groups of eight-to-ten men each to divert and contain the outposts at the Narai Pul bridge, the Aozhda Ghundai hill, Smats hill, and the Spin Khwar syphon. I had radio communication with all groups. I commanded the 19 men in the main attack. Each containment group had two RPGs and the main attack group had four RPGs. I positioned our mortar near the Congregation Mosque (Eidgah). I started the attack at 1600 hours and three hours later we overran the government post in Gula’i. The containment groups prevented any assistance to the post. After dark, we all gathered at the designated assembly area. We had two WIA. The enemy lost three KIA and two POWs. We also captured 11 Kalashnikovs, 100 boxes of badly needed ammunition and some hand grenades.
COMMENTARY: Radios greatly helped coordinate Mujahideen actions. Evidently, attacking during the Feast of Ramadan also helped. Because the DRA had to protect military, political and economic installations this spread the DRA force thin and inhibited offensive actions. The agricultural project was vital to the economic well-being of the area and, although the Mujahideen attacked the military posts, they did not attack the canals.
VIGNETTE 6 — DESTRUCTION OF THE BAGH-E MUMTAZ BRIGADE by Doctor Mohammad Wakil{61}
In 1988, the DRA deployed a security ,brigade north of Kabul to secure the route for the withdrawal of the Soviet 40th Army. It was stationed on the Kabul-Charikar highway near the road junction with the road leading to Shakardara—the district headquarters of Shakardara District. The brigade was stationed in the Mumtaz orchard, so it was called the Bagh-e{62} Mumtaz Brigades (Map 4-5 Shakardara). My brother, the late Commander Wasil, was the overall commander of the many factions involved in this battle. He worked out the plan during several commanders councils at the various faction bases. At 0800 hours on 21 June 1988, we would begin our attack on the brigade. The first phase would be the isolation and artillery preparation phase. Mujahideen would block the road from the north and south to isolate the garrison and begin a seven-day artillery preparation with a BM-12, Saqar MRL, 122mm howitzer, 82mm mortars and 82mm recoilless rifles. The artillery preparation would be fired from four directions. The second phase would be the ground offensive. One hundred Mujahideen would attack on each of four axes. The attack from the south would be led by my brother, Commander Wasil, on the southern axis Sehab-e Quli Village—Morad Beg town. Commander Taj Mohammad would lead the attack on the southwest axis from Karez-e Mir Village. Commander Naser would lead the attack on the western axis while Commander Anwar would lead the attack on the eastern axis. Mujahideen armaments included one Saqar, one BM12, one 122mm howitzer, six 82mm mortars, eight 82mm recoilless rifles and approximately 40 RPG-7s. We also had some ZSU-23-2 antiaircraft guns and some Stinger antiaircraft missiles.
The attack started on time, but the garrison did not last for the seven days. The brigade’s morale broke and we overran it by 1400 hours on the first day. The brigade’s tanks broke out. The brigade commander and some of his deputies were on board the tanks. We tried to stop them with RPG fire, but they escaped to Kabul. I do not know the total Mujahideen casualties, but I do know of four KIA, including my brother. I also know 10 of the Mujahideen WIA. We killed around 100 in the brigade and captured some 400-450 DRA soldiers. We also captured some 40 armored vehicles, although not all of them were functioning. We captured 10 trucks and some 600 small arms. The Kabul government was slow in reacting to our attack, since they did not expect that the brigade’s résistance would collapse so quickly. After 1400 hours, the artillery of the DRA 8th Infantry Division” began firing on the captured garrison from positions in Qargha and the Kabul airport. However, they did not employ any aircraft against us due to the presence of the ZSU-23-2s and Stingers. We did not intend to hold the garrison area and had no desire to remain under artillery fire, so we grabbed what we could and left. The government never re-established a unit at that garrison site.
COMMENTARY: Planning a seven-day siege within 15 kilometers of the heavily garrisoned capital of Kabul is a high-risk option, but the garrison evidently capitulated as soon as its commander abandoned it and fled in a tank. The Mujahideen southern roadblock was evidently not too effective since the brigade’s tanks managed to blast right through it. At this point in the war, the DRA’s morale (which was never high) was at a record low. The Soviets had begun their withdrawal on May 15th over this same road and were conducting few offensive actions. The DRA felt like the hapless brigade watching their commander flee. The Soviets were clearly preparing to abandon the DRA.
The Mujahideen, on the other hand, were practically giddy with anticipation of the complete Soviet withdrawal. The Mujahideen had not expected to win the war and now could sense victory Their actions became more daring. However, after the Soviet withdrawal, the Mujahideen began quarreling among themselves even more than usual and the DRA resolve strengthened. The war went on.
Coordinating an attack by different factions with uncertain communications from four directions is also a high-risk option which chances fratricide. However, audacity prevailed and the Mujahideen quickly destroyed a larger force.
The introduction of the U.S.-manufactured, shoulder-fired Stinger air defense missile caused a change in Soviet aerial tactics. The Soviets would not employ close air support forward of their own forces if Stingers were present. Further, a Mujahideen rocket attack on the Kabul airfield about this same time reportedly destroyed five SU-25 close air support aircraft and damaged three others. Mujahideen air defenses and aircraft availability probably limited the Soviet/DRA response to artillery fire.
CHAPTER COMMENTARY
When the guerrilla force decides to seize and hold a strong point, implied missions are the conduct of regular logistic resupply, the continual manning of the strong point and the ability to withstand artillery and air strikes. None of these are easy for a guerrilla force dependent on part-time guerrillas. Further, it requires the commitment of crew-served weapons and sufficient ammunition—commodities that are hard to remove during a forced withdrawal. The guerrilla is trading his mobility and anonymity for a fixed-piece conventional battle. Quite frequently, the guerrilla is. unable to make the transition.