The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen ... - Tribal Analysis Center

VIGNETTE 7
RAID ON MAHIPAR OUTPOSTS
by Commander Wazir Gul
In July 1984 three groups of Mujahideen combined to raid
Soviet/DRA security outposts on the main Kabul-Jalalabad highway.
(Map 2-6 - Mahipar) Highway 1 at Mahipar passes through a deep
gorge, with the river flowing immediately to the north of the road
and with a steep ridge rising on the south. Other than the highway,
the main access to Mahipar is through Mulla Omar Dara, a mountain
valley connecting Mulla Omar Village with Highway 1. At that
time, the DRA had a militia unit headquartered at Mulla Omar. The
DRA militia commander was Hasan Khan Karokhel, the local
Ghilzai Pashtun chieftain. Hasan Khan was also a secret collaborator
with the Mujahideen. He helped facilitate our movements and
combat against Soviet/DRA forces in the area.
My group reached Mulla Omar in the evening after a day march
from our base at Tangi Tezin. There, we were joined by two NIFA
commanders, Captain Afghan of Deh Sabz, and Sayed Hasan Khan of
Khak-e Jabar. All together, we had 80 Mujahideen armed with AK-47s
and .303 Enfield rifles, five BM-ls, four 82mm recoilless rifles, four
82mm mortars, two DShKs and 13 RPG-7s. We planned our combined
action at Mulla Omar and moved out the next morning toward
Mahipar over Lataband mountain. We had packed our heavy weapons
on mules. There were three chief components in our combined force—
two fire support groups and an assault group. Each fire support group
had BM-1s and 82mm mortars. Their mission was to attack and pin
down the DRA base on the left flank and the Soviet base on the right
flank. The assault group consisted of three teams. Each assault team
had a designated outpost to attack. Each assault team had RPGs and
recoilless rifles to support their attack.
In order to minimize the daylight available to the enemy's aircraft,
we began our attack at 1600. We knew it would take several hours for
them to respond. Our heavy weapons pounded the flanking bases to
isolate the attack area. The assault teams began to fire on the security
posts and slowly move forward. The attack on the security posts
was hindered by enemy mines and it took several hours for the
Commander Wazir Gul was affiliated with Jamiat-e Islami Afghanistan (JIA) of Burhanuddin
Rabbani. His base was in Tezin southwest of Sarobi. He fought in the Sarobi, Lataband
and Mahipar areas. [Map sheet 2986, vic grid 4723].