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

Chapter 6, Vignette 2 Page 155
ing, the women from the villages would bring bread and milk forward
to our positions. The whole area was actively supporting us. The
inhabitants of Paghman, Oryakhel and Khaldari were feeding us.
Mujahideen came from outside the area to reinforce us. Modir Zaher
of Khaldari took nine wounded Mujahideen into his home. His wife
cared for them, nursed them and applied dressings on them. The
Soviets tried to bypass our ambush by moving on the northern route to
Paghman through Qaragha. Mujahideen stopped this column at
Dodamast northwest of Qaragha. The enemy then tried to bypass the
Kwaja Musafer ambush by skirting around it, but the bypassing force
soon fell into further Mujahideen ambushes. The center of fighting
was Kwaja Musafer and we stopped and held the enemy there. After
three days of fighting, the enemy broke contact and withdrew to Kabul.
In my sector, we lost 13 KIA and many wounded. I personally know of
20 wounded, but there were many more. The enemy lost 14 armored
vehicles and trucks in my sector. I know that over 40 DRA soldiers
were captured or defected. We captured hundreds of small arms
during this battle.
COM1VIENTARY: This is an example of good Mujahideen field cooperation—not
always a feature of the war. The Mujahideen cooperated and
their overall formation strengthened as the battle continued since
Mujahideen came from all around the area to join in the fight. The
British noted that a good fight had almost a magnetic effect on the
warrior-tribesmen of Afghanistan and the Soviets learned that this
trait had not disappeared over time. The Soviets and DRA broke contact
after three days although their lines of communication were intact
and the enemy was fixed in known positions. Firepower could not
break the Mujahideen and the Soviets and DRA would not commit the
necessary infantry to close with the Mujahideen.
The road to Paghman runs through a heavily-populated green zone
and the Mujahideen were able to select and fortify good ambush positions
along the route. In this summer fighting, the trees and crops provided
good concealment for the Mujahideen.