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

Page 28 The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War
fight, whereas Soviet columns would. Usually when a column would
come, the enemy would establish security forces at suspected
ambush sites and occupy them until the column passed or until they
were certain that nothing was going to happen. Many times we
wouldn't risk taking on the entire column. We would attack the tail
since the enemy would not turn back to help the petroleum tankers
at the rear. The column would often reach Gardez, but they would
have lost a piece of it along the way. Attacking the column from the
rear was less risk to us, although sometimes there would be some
APCs at the rear of the column.
The enemy reaction when caught in the kill zone was usually
ineffective. They normally stopped, dismounted and took cover. They
fought back only when assistance arrived. We learned to hit the
column and leave. We did not want to fight reinforcements or helicopters
because we did not have enough combat power and it was very
hard to move our wounded from the area under fire.
Later in the morning, a Soviet security force of armored vehicles
moved close to us and occupied a position. Then the column came from
the north. The security force rejoined the column before the entire column
passed. This left the fuel tankers in the rear of the column for us!
We hit them by surprise, and it was effective. We damaged or
destroyed one jeep and nine tankers. Mohammad Hashem took out an
armored security vehicle with his RPG. We later learned that two
Russians fled from the south-bound column when we ambushed it.
They were captured by Mujahideen from HIH.
As we were getting ready to leave the ambush site, a Soviet
armored column came from the south. My southern security group had
already pulled back, so we were caught totally by surprise. They began
pouring fire into our ranks Four helicopters also flew over firing at us.
Mohammad Hashem hit one helicopter with his RPG, but the fight was
unequal. All of my group, except for Ehsan and myself were wounded—most
of them were wounded while we were withdrawing. Most
were lightly wounded, but two of them are still paralyzed.
What happened is that as we ambughed the tail of the southbound
column, a north-bound column was traveling on the same
section of road. The heavily-armored head of the north-bound column
arrived at the kill zone as we were withdrawing. Helicopters were
flying air cover for the arriving column as well. Since my southern
security group had withdrawn, we did not know of their arrival until
they were firing at us.
COMMENTARY: The road runs through a deep gorge three kilometers