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

VIGNETTE 6A
THE BATTLE FOR THE KHAIROKHEL POST
by Asef Khan
I brought my 130 Mujahideen from our permanent base in
Surkhrud District, southwest of Jalalabad to join OPERATION ARROW.
My group was designated Task Force Hurricane. My group deployed
at night into its attack position located in the folds of the Tor Ghar
Mountain. My attack position was about 3 kilometers directly south of
my objective—the Khairokhel post (Map 6-8 - Arrow 3).
Khairokhel post was located immediately west of the Khairokhel
village. It was manned by a platoon-sized unit supported by two tanks
and one APC. They also had mortars and machine guns including
DShKs. There was another post connected with the Khairokhel defenses
between the village and the Surkhakan Bridge Post to the east. The
enemy would detach small teams during the day to patrol the main
highway between Khairokhel and the Surkhakan bridge. The patrols
would return to their base at night.
Task Force Gulf, commanded by Haji Zaman Ghamsharik, was
deployed on the left flank of my group. Its mission was to attack the
adjacent enemy base at Spina Thana. Further to the west, Task Force
Falcon, commanded by Shari' ati and Lt. Wali, was to attack the
Kaftarkhana Base. The right flank of my task force Hurricane was
exposed and covered only by mountainous terrain.
I formed my task force into three groups: an assault group, a support
group and a service detachment. There were 50 Mujahideen
armed with assault rifles and 15 RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launchers
in the assault group. The support group manned the heavy weapons
including one BM-1, one 75mm gun, and three 82mm recoilless rifles.
At 2200 hours on the night of 22 October 1988, I took a few men
down to the Khairokhel village on reconnaissance. I had dinner with
the local elders and asked them to talk to the government post
commander and convince him to abandon his positions rather than
face attack. Following the meal, I completed my reconnaissance and
returned to the attack position in the hills overlooking the village. It
was so close to the enemy that an American female journalist who
was accompanying my group said If I were the government militia,
you would not be able to survive a single night sitting so close to the
Asef Khan was the commander of Task Force Hurricane.