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

Page 314 The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War
fighting positions and wore garlands of grapevines as camouflage. We
let the enemy get closer than ten meters to us before opening fire. We
let them get this close for two reasons. First, we wanted to be sure to
get them with the first shot. Second, we wanted to prevent their
escape. We laid thousands of PMN mines 10 in the area—particularly
on the infantry approaches from Jelawor. After DRA attacks failed,
they would often run into the mines as they tried to escape. The enemy
would retreat and we would go out and collect their weapons, rations
and ammunition. If the enemy was not attacking us, we would
send out ambush parties to hit his columns on the main road. It was
usually quiet at night. Sometimes the enemy would fire artillery and
bomb us at night but would never attack at night. They did not know
their way around the area in the dark, so they did not attempt any
night combat.
The DRA had a district government post and local militia on the
east bank. We Mujahideen had our families and R&R 1 1 facilities on
the east bank since the government would not bomb that area.
Supplies came from our homes on the other side of the river, but
during heavy fighting, they could not supply us and we were on our
own. We could not cook since the enemy would shell any smoke they
saw. We had plenty of ammunition since the base was well-supplied
and we could resupply ammunition to our positions readily. Food,
however, was a serious problem although the number of combatants
at the Chaharqulba base did not exceed 500 Mujahideen at any time.
The intensity of fire sometimes prevented us from eating during the
day—and sometimes even during the night. Sometimes we would
salvage rations left behind by the Soviets and DRA. The Soviets
would leave lots of food behind, particularly bread. Often our sole
rations would be Soviet bread soaked in water.
We also had a problem with treating the wounded. We had medics
who had graduated from a short course in Pakistan and were qualified
to perform basic first aid. We normally evacuated our wounded to
Pakistan for treatment and recovery. During the siege, however, we
could not send our wounded to Pakistan. We could not remove the
shrapnel and so many of our seriously wounded died of their wounds.
We had a few Arabs in our base at this time. They were there for Jihad
credit and to see the fighting. "If you are Muslims, help us collect the
10 The PMN mine is a small, plastic antipersonnel mine manufactured by the Soviet
Union. It is pressure activated. The Mujahideen called them Kandani (sugar pots) due to
their similarity in size and shape.
11 Rest and relaxation.