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

Page 202 The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War
instructor at the Royal Afghan Military Academy. The DRA spread
their 3rd battalion in the south of the city instead of in the fort. They
had two companies in the forward defensive line. To the southeast,
natural ditches and ravines created barriers to our advance. The
airfield lay to the west. One approach to west of the airfield was inadequately
mined, so the DRA covered the gap with guards and patrols.
Besides our two tanks, we had two 76mm mountain guns, one
122mm D30 howitzer, one 107mm mountain mortar, other lighter
mortars, many RPGs, many DShK and ZGU heavy machine guns and
other lighter machine guns. It was January and snow was on the
ground. We covered part of our tanks with white cloth to hide them.
We recorded the sound of a moving tank. We received some loudspeakers
from Peshawar and assigned people to use them on the eastern
flank to depict tanks coming from the east. We structured our
forces for the assault by creating several groups:
• A tank and tank protection group commanded by Mawlawi
Shadam *
• Two assault groups—Northern and Southern
• An evacuation group to carry away the spoils.
• A family and dependents protection group to protect the families
of DRA officers who were in the garrison
• A truck transport group
• A command and control group
We planned the attack. Following an artillery preparation, a tank would
spearhead the assault from the north and the south to clear a path
through the antipersonnel minefields. An assault group would follow in
the tank's tracks to hit the enemy from two sides simultaneously.
I was with the southern forces. At 2000 hours on a cold January
night, our Mujahideen were all in position. We started artillery
preparatory fire on the DRA positions. Ten minutes later, our tank
moved north toward the city. The tank fired on two city towers and
knocked out the machine guns in them. Then we turned on the loudspeakers
in the southeast to create tank noises there. The enemy
fired at the noises as our tank changed direction and headed west
where it could reach the unmined area. Fifteen Mujahideen, including
Mawlawi Shadam, Ismail Turkistani and me were on the tank as
it entered the city. As we passed through the mined area, we dismounted
and moved to the rear of the 3d battalion. Assault group
south followed the tank's tracks into the city. They stormed through