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

Chapter 11, Vignette 6 Page 299
the area and they helped defend the base camp area. I sent 20 of
my men to the Ghurghori bridge with four RPG-7s and Kalashnikovs.
I told their commander to put 10 men on each bank to block the
enemy tanks which would make the encircling sweep. However, that
group didn't reach the bridge on time. They stopped short of the
bridge to avoid falling into an ambush. The enemy seized control of
the bridge at dawn. His other groups deployed at Qala-e Naw,
Radzay, Sheshaveh and other points in the area.
The enemy attacked, as usual, from the northeast and southwest.
The main attack was from the northeast and involved some 150-200
vehicles. My bridge group attacked the enemy group at the bridge,
but the enemy pushed them back and began advancing toward the
northeast from Radzay. Six enemy jet aircraft were attacking our
positions, while four helicopters adjusted their strikes for them. The
helicopters fired smoke rockets to mark the strikes. The fighting
continued for two days. Then they broke contact and withdrew.
During the fighting, 16 DRA soldiers defected to us. They were
soldiers drafted from Farah and Nimroz Provinces. They were from
the 21st Mechanized Brigade in Farah and the Sarandoy regiment in
Nimroz. There were also DRA deserters from the 4th Border Guards
Brigade. Mujahideen casualties were three KIA and several wounded.
Enemy losses are unknown except for the 16 deserters.
COMMENTARY: When asked what made him successful Commander
Baloch said, "We intended to fight to the last man and they didn't.
This is a wide area and we were widely dispersed, which reduced
the impact of the enemy air force. Air power was fairly ineffective in
this desert. Many of their bombs failed to explode, but buried themselves
in the sand. We had covered shelters and covered fighting
positions in each village. The enemy was very stylized and never
did anything different. We knew from where they would come, how
they would act and how long they could stay. Our defensive positions
were connected with communications trenches while the enemy
was always in the open. We had two kinds of maneuver. One was the
dispersal maneuver forcing the enemy to chase all over to find us.
The second was internal maneuver within a strong point where we
could shift between positions without being observed. We had these
positions in all the villages and throughout the area. There are also
many canals and ditches in the area, which we improved into
fighting positions."
"Once the enemy offered me a deal. 'Don't attack us and we will