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

Chapter 7, Vignette 2 Page 209
approaches to Dehrawud from the south, but, as the seige continued,
many of the fighters found more pressing business to attend to
then sitting idly on a mountain. They departed one after another and
left the approaches open. Both the Kajaki axis and the Kotal-e
Murcha axis were very easy to block with a small detachment of
determined fighters. If the Mujahideen had held their positions,
they could have stopped the large columns of their enemy and celebrated
a Mujahideen victory in Dehrawud. But, once again, the
Mujahideen experience demonstrated their tactical and logistical
limitations in maintaining control over large forces for an extended
period of time. Most of the Mujahideen were not fighting on their
home territory and, therefore, were less enthusiastic about remaining
in stationary positions for an extended period of time while the
Soviet Air Force attacked them.
Air power, while seldom decisive in guerrilla war, played a major
role in breaking this seige. Once the Mujahideen assumed static positions,
the Soviet Air Force was able to delay the Mujahideen assault
and gain the time needed for the ground forces to reach the battlefield.