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

Page 292 The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War
him out of it, convinced that the stranger was one of our own. Later,
we learned that the Soviets had invited some local elders to the
attack site to impress them with their strength. The elders later
described how the Soviet soldier came running into the site proudly
holding his trophy weapons over his head. The Soviets again fired
artillery at us all night.
Early on the morning of the third day, the Soviets again attacked.
They figured that we had no forces on the canyon floor, so they fired
smoke rounds into the canyon. We thought they were using poison
gas and tied handkerchiefs over our faces. The Soviets moved into
the canyon under the cover of the smoke. At first, we fired blindly
into the smoke from t'he high ground until we saw them signaling
each other with flares. We fired at the flares and then realized, from
the flares' positions, that they had penetrated far into the base. The
Mujahideen in the base were shouting "The Russians are here!" and
firing at close range. We abandoned our positions in the heights and
charged down the canyon walls. The fighting was heavy. The Soviets
withdrew in the late afternoon, taking their dead and wounded
with them. They left blood trails, bloody bandages and many RPG-
18s behind. Again, Soviet artillery fired at us all night.
On the fourth day, the Soviets advanced with tanks leading and
the infantry sheltering behind the tanks. The infantry was reluctant
to leave the shelter of the tanks, but they finally moved into some
folds on the canyon wall and sheltered there while the tanks withdrew.
The infantry would not move out from the protection of the
folds and finally the tanks came forward again and the infantry
retreated behind the tanks. At noon, they quit firing and the Soviets
broke camp and moved out in the afternoon. We lit bonfires and
cheered from the heights. The bonfires were welcome since it had
rained throughout the battle and we couldn't light fires earlier as
that would have disclosed our positions.
COMMENTARY: Again the Soviets conducted a frontal attack, but this
time relied on a smoke screen to aid their advance. The advance was
initially successful, but the Soviets failed to clear their flanks as they
advanced. Once the Soviets began to take casualties, they withdrew,
abandoning ground they would unsuccessfully try to retake the following
day. The Mujahideen, who lacked communications, were hard
pressed to control the battle.