Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War - Bennett Park Raiders

Chapter 2, Vignette 7 Page 91
Mujahideen to overrun the outposts after heavy clashes. By 2100, the
DRA soldiers manning the outposts were either killed or had escaped.
We took one tank crew prisoner.
The Soviet base and outposts further down the road could not
support the embattled DRA outposts. But as we pulled out, the
Soviet base began heavy fire on the withdrawing Mujahideen
groups. Their fire had little effect in the dark. We destroyed two
tanks, killed nine enemy soldiers and captured three DShKs, six AK-
47 rifles and a large amount of ammunition. Two Mujahideen were
wounded in the battle. We spent the night at Mulla Omar and
returned to our bases the next day.
COMMENTARY: The terrain here is very restrictive and rugged. The
Soviet/DRA bases and outposts were all in the canyon. The
Soviets/DRA surrendered the initiative in this area and trusted that
the difficulty in crossing the rugged terrain, coupled with their
bunkers and field fortifications, would protect these sites from the
Mujahideen. There were a series of three security outposts along the
road: two on the high ground on both sides of the gorge and the other
on the road. The purpose of security outposts was to protect bridges,
hydroelectric installations, dams and block the side valleys. The outposts
on the high ground were not high enough to interfere with
Mujahideen freedom of action. There were a few observation posts on
the high peaks but they were not effective, particularly at night. The
security outposts on the high ground were mostly manned by DRA or
militia which lacked training and were in fact prisoners in their mineprotected
enclaves. The Mujahideen could easily bypass them—particularly
at night. The Soviets/DRA had mined the main approaches to
the gorge, but given the steep nature of the approaches, the mines usually
washed away when it rained. The Mujahideen often used such
steep areas to descend to the highway.
The Mujahideen, on the other hand, saw this set up as an excellent
opportunity to punish their opponent, pick up some weapons and
resupply ammunition. The Mujahideen developed a standard pattern
for attacking outposts along this road. They would attack late in the
afternoon to minimize the effectiveness of air strikes and artillery.
They would fire rockets and mortars at the main base camps on both
flanks of the target area to seal the area and hold the attention of the
base camps so that they would not interfere with the main attack.
Then they would launch the attack against the outposts which were
mostly manned by ill-trained, poorly-motivated conscript DRA. The