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

Page 384 The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War
designated assembly area and, as we approached it, we were challenged
and responded with the password. Once I assembled my entire
group, we left. My security elements guaranteed a safe return. This
raid was on the 10th day of the first month of the Islamic Lunar
calendar—the Day of Ashura. This day commemorates the anniversary
of the massacre of the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hussein
and his 72 followers at Karbala in Iraq. It is a day of mourning, reflection
and solemn thinking for Shia and others. On this Day of Ashura,
we thought of our own dead who died defending truth and righteousness.
They had died appropriately on the Day of Ashura.
COMMENTARY: Many of the urban guerrilla commanders maintained
their main operating base within the suburbs or outlying villages
where it was easier to assemble and train a group of men without
government observation. The guerrilla commanders maintained a net
of informers and supporters who aided their entry and passage
through the urban area. Still, guerrilla groups operating within an
urban area had to secure their route of entry and withdrawal which
took the bulk of their force.