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

Chapter 6, Vignette 5 Page 171
initiative from us. There were no Soviet forces garrisoned in Paktia
and we were used to fighting the DRA. The DRA had no artillery
larger than 130mm Now we were getting pounded by heavy artillery
including BM21 and BM-27 MRL. In Dara, the Soviets had three,
powerful, long-range heavy artillery pieces with four tires each. We
saw one of these firing. The firing recoil gases alone flipped a jeep
over. 8 Aircraft were dropping cluster bombs on us. We could not
survive in these positions, so we left our positions and moved to
higher mountains in the west called Ghumbor Khwaley and Fakhry.
The Soviets advanced on our positions behind us and, after five days,
they seized the Satakandow pass.
We had cut and destroyed sections of the road in the Satakandow
pass. As the Soviets tried to repair the road, we started firing on
them with our heavy weapons from the high ground. But the Soviet
firepower was strong and the Soviets pushed us higher into the
mountains. As their converging forces cut our rear, we fell back. They
captured Gulzarak Zadran's base at Shwak. The Mujahideen took
what equipment they could, but some had to be abandoned to the
enemy. The Mujahideen withdrew to the southwest mountains and
the Soviets/DRA advanced and established a base camp where they
stayed for two days. Then they resumed their advance to Sarani.
They destroyed the Mujahideen base camp at Sarani—our first indication
that the Soviets/DRA planned to abandon the route instead of
trying to maintain a long-term presence there.
The Mujahideen plight was serious and we were suddenly faced
with a new problem—the absence of drinking water. The intensity
of Soviet shelling was so great, that the chemical residue from
the explosions had contaminated the streams. Some of us thought
that the Soviets had poisoned the water since one glass of water
would choke you up and make you very ill. We had to use snow for
drinking water, but the snow was also affected by the chemicals. Our
supplies were cut off and food was scarce, but our major problem
was thirst. People were suffering from dehydration, but they could
not use the local water. We had not made arrangements to haul
water into the area since local water had always been adequate
for our needs. The roads were blocked so trucks could not enter the
area. We had some mules that we could use in some of the area, but
8 This was probably the 2A36 152mm gun, the "Hyacinth". It has a maximum range of
28.5 kilometers and fires 5-6 rounds per minute. The round weighs 46 kilograms and has
a muzzle velocity of 942 meters/sec. The piece weighs 9,800 kg and has a 8.197 meter
long barrel. Krasnaya zvezda [Red star], 16 July 1993, page 2.