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

VIGNETTE 8
DEFENDING THE MALAJAT
by Mohammad Shah Kako and Abdul Ghani
The Malajat, the southern suburb of Kandahar, was a continuous
battlefield. The Malajat is a large green zone full of orchards,
villages, irrigation canals, and vineyards. The Mujahideen deployed
mobile bases throughout it. Many Mujahideen commanders with
bases elsewhere would maintain mobile bases in the Malajat as their
forward elements in the Kandahar area. Despite belonging to different
factions, there was an exemplary cooperation among these mobile
groups. The DRA/Soviets tried to force the Mujahideen out by cordon
and search operations of the Malajat area. They would occupy the
high ground and villages north of the Tarnak River—Shorandam,
Zaker-e Sharif, Loy Karazak, Anguryan, and Bala Deh which are
north and west of the airfield. Then they would establish the western
blocking positions on the Girowal Ghar, Suf Ghar, Zarah Ghar
and Chehelzena Ghar mountains (Map 11-11 - Mala). They used the
city of Kandahar as the northern blocking position. Kandahar was
occupied by DRA forces. Then the Soviets and DRA would push
inward into the Malajat area from these blocking positions search for
the Mujahideen. They were usually unsuccessful, but they continued
to do it over and over again. The blocking positions were also part of
the Kandahar security belt, but it was well-penetrated by the
Mujahideen. We would fight them initially in the Malajat area and
then exit to the south in the Loy Karazak area and Anguryan and in
the southwest in the Hendu Kalacha area. The Soviets had trouble
controlling these areas.
The Mujahideen prepared blocking positions along major axes and
turned this area into an impregnable stronghold. A typical blocking
position would be built near a mobile base and include several buildings
in a village or orchard, where the mobile group would live. The
personnel in the mobile group would be relieved and replaced from
time to time from their main bases. Some Mujahideen would stay
permanently in the Malajat area. Mobile bases and blocking positions
were connected by communications trenches. The blocking positions
were dug into the ground and had firing positions for machine guns,
Mohammad Shah Kako initially fought with HIK and then switched to IUA. Abdul Ghani
fought with the ANLF. [Map sheet 2180].