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

VIGNETTE 5
REMOTE-CONTROL ATTACK ON A CONVOY IN THE SUBURBS
by Mohammad Humayun Shahin
There were some 40 guerrillas in my force. We lived inside Kabul
and in the suburbs. Most of the men were ethnic Pashtun, but there
were seven Dari speakers from outside Kabul as well. The Pashtu
speakers often mingled with the Kochi nomads who would pitch their
tents and graze their herds on the outskirts of Kabul. The Dari speakers
posed as dairy product buyers when the DRA checked the area.
In October 1982, I was a combatant, not a commander. Our
commander was Qarar. He led us on a convoy attack against the Kote
Sangi--Darulaman road near Qala-e Alimardan (Map Alimardan). It
was a combined action involving HIH forces under Commander Didar,
Commander Firoz and Commander Qarar, as well as fighters from the
Mohseni faction. The combined force numbered 76 men. We expected
a convoy from Darulaman to Kabul the next day. We all moved to the
area at night and surrounded the area. Our mining teams emplaced
seven remote-controlled (shartaki) mines Then they camouflaged
them. After positioning two observation posts and designating a detonation
team, the Mujahideen withdrew. A Mujahideen known as Sher
Bach-e Khala (a Hazara) and I were the detonation team. Commander
Qarar was at the Darulaman observation post and another observer
was by the mined area. Sher Bach-e Khala and I spent the night in a
clover field some 200 meters from the road.
The next morning, Commander Qarar came down the road on his
bicycle. He told us that the Soviet convoy was moving from
Darulaman. We moved into our detonation position. Commander
Qarar then moved to the other observation post. He told the observer
to take off his turban and wave it when the first two vehicles had
passed the mined stretch of the road. He would do this since we could
not see the mined stretch from the detonation position. A moment
later, the convoy reached the site and the observer took off his turban,
waved it and moved to a safe spot. We operated the detonator and four
of the seven mines exploded. The explosion destroyed or damaged one
BMP and three trucks. The four-man Mujahideen group safely
escaped from the area.
Mohammad Humayun Shahin provided the material for a previous vignette in this chapter.