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

Chapter 6, Vignette 1 Page 151
to rally the tribes and the tribes responded since they knew that the
DRA would loot the villages if they let them into the area. I assigned
two harbakai groups to reinforce the Mujahideen blocking DRA forces
at Said Khel. I took the rest of the Mujahideen to the Saroti pass. I
arrived at Saroti in the late afternoon and surveyed the area. I determined
how many Mujahideen I would need and where I would position
the forces. I did not have enough Mujahideen, so I assembled
some of the local barbers (Pushtun barbers usually also play drums)
to play their drums to gather a lashkar. 1 I did this to raise the whole
area and to demoralize the enemy. The drummers did a great job.
Warriors came from many tribes to Saroti and soon I had a large
army. Originally, I had planned to defend the pass, but when I
viewed the size of my army, I decided to attack. I promised them the
weapons we captured and we attacked the column and captured
weapons, trucks and tanks. When we had dealt with the Saroti force,
I left a blocking force to deal with any further columns and then took
the lashkar to Said Khel.
We cut the road to Khowst behind the DRA regiment which was
still assembled at Said Khel. Then we surrounded the regiment. It
remained trapped for 20 days. The DRA sent another column out of
Khowst to relieve this force, but they could not break through the
Mujahideen blockade. After some fighting, the entire force at Said
Khel surrendered. There were 1,300 personnel in the column and we
captured 1,200. The enemy lost another 100 either KIA or WIA. We
captured all the weapons of this regiment including 50-60 trucks and
armored vehicles. After the surrender, the DRA air force bombed
their own column and destroyed the rest of the vehicles in it, or we
would have had even more booty. A few vehicles managed to escape
from us. The father of DRA Minister of the Interior Gulabzoi was
wounded in the fighting and managed to escape in one of the APCs.
His name was Gulab Shah and he was a member of the Zadran tribe,
so perhaps some tribesmen helped his escape.
COMMENTARY: Early in the war, the Mujahideen resistance was mostly
centered on the tribes. Only later, when the United States, Egypt,
Saudi Arabia and other countries began supplying the Mujahideen
through the various religious-based factions, did the Mujahideen's
primary focus and loyalty shift to the factions. The method of
1 Lashkar in Pushto usage means a tribal army or armed force. A lashkar is usually gath-
ered for a short time.