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

VIGNETTE 4
DEFENSE OF A RIVER LINE AND ROAD BLOCK AT SAYAD
by Commander Haji Abdul Qader
In late summer and early fall of 1983, the Mujahideen in Nejrao
and Tagao Districts of Kapisa Province increased their attacks on
government facilities. These districts are located on the east side of
the Panjshir River and link Sarobi on the Kabul-Jalalabad highway
with key locations in the provinces of Parwan, Kapisa and Laghman.
These districts also provided access to several Mujahideen mountain
base camps. The only permanent bridge across the Panjshir River (at
Abdullah-e Burj) is located in this area and provides direct access to
Bagram. We expected Soviet/DRA forces at Bagram to launch a
strike through the area. Their purpose would be to protect Sarobi
and the main road connecting Sarobi with the Kapisa Province
Capital of Mahmoud-e Raqi and Gulbahar located further north at
the mouth of the Panjsher Valley.
We decided to block this expected advance with my forces and the
forces of Commander Shahin (based around Mahmoud-e Raqi). We
prepared defensive positions on the north bank of the Panjshir River
around the bridge at Abdullah-e Burj (Map 6-4 - Sayad) We built
blocking positions in a deep ditch which passes through upper Sayad
village and covers the road as it approaches the bridge. We prepared
positions on the high ground south of the river which dominates the
approach and both banks of the river. We put in land mines and built
shelters with overhead cover to protect our Mujahideen from air and
artillery fire. We moved supplies forward to a forward supply base in
Deh Babi village immediately northwest of Sayad village. We built
covered trenches from the base to the forward positions. The trenches
were big enough to allow us to resupply by pack horses, mules and
foot porters.
Commander Shahin had approximately 600 men and I had
approximately 250. There was not enough space to deploy them all,
so one-third of the force occupied fighting positions while the rest
were in reserve or given support tasks. Some Mujahideen held flank
positions to contain the enemy. Since all of the Mujahideen were
locally based, we were able to deploy the blocking force in total
Haji Abdul Qader was a Commander for the HIK faction. His forces were based around
the vital Bagram area. [Map sheet 2886, 2887, vie grid 2872]