Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War - Bennett Park Raiders
Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War - Bennett Park Raiders
Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War - Bennett Park Raiders
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Page 344 The O<strong>the</strong>r Side of <strong>the</strong> Mounta<strong>in</strong>: <strong>Mujahideen</strong> <strong>Tactics</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Soviet</strong>-<strong>Afghan</strong> <strong>War</strong><br />
probably moved <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong>ir wooded position <strong>the</strong> previous night. The<br />
<strong>Soviet</strong>s suffocated <strong>the</strong> Kochi who had been our passenger and had<br />
killed ano<strong>the</strong>r Kochi earlier <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> same fashion. The river was fordable,<br />
so after <strong>the</strong> helicopters left, we forded <strong>the</strong> river to look at <strong>the</strong><br />
ambush sight. Villagers found <strong>the</strong> bodies of <strong>the</strong> two murdered Kochi.<br />
We crossed back to <strong>the</strong> west side, got <strong>in</strong> our truck and began driv<strong>in</strong>g<br />
on <strong>the</strong> road to Kotolak s<strong>in</strong>ce it was now night.<br />
About two kilometers south of Kotolak <strong>the</strong> <strong>Soviet</strong>s had set ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
ambush <strong>in</strong> some hills straddl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> road. We were mov<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> enemy<br />
territory and I considered <strong>the</strong> route dangerous so we stopped short of<br />
<strong>the</strong> hills and I had seven of my men dismount and walk <strong>the</strong> road to <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r side of <strong>the</strong> hills check<strong>in</strong>g for ambushers. If <strong>the</strong>y saw noth<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
<strong>the</strong>n we would move <strong>the</strong> truck forward. This left eight <strong>Mujahideen</strong><br />
with <strong>the</strong> truck—three <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> cab and five <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> pickup bed. My seven<br />
walkers walked past <strong>the</strong> hills, checked for ambush and gave us an allclear<br />
sign—a signal rocket.<br />
The ambush party let my walkers pass through unmolested. When<br />
we saw <strong>the</strong> rocket, we moved out confidently. Suddenly, I thought that<br />
someone had set us on fire. We were <strong>in</strong> an ambush kill zone and bullets<br />
were fly<strong>in</strong>g all around us. Two men <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> truck bed and <strong>the</strong> man<br />
next to me <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> cab were killed. The driver was wounded <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
shoulder. One tire was hit. The driver slammed <strong>the</strong> truck <strong>in</strong>to reverse<br />
gear and tried to drive out of <strong>the</strong> kill zone. He drove <strong>the</strong> truck beh<strong>in</strong>d<br />
a shelter<strong>in</strong>g hillock and stopped it. I had three KIA and two WIA. We<br />
changed <strong>the</strong> tire and left <strong>the</strong> area <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> dark. My walkers cont<strong>in</strong>ued<br />
to Kotolak. Later on, <strong>the</strong> walkers returned <strong>in</strong>dividually to my base<br />
camp. As we were revers<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> truck out of <strong>the</strong> kill zone, <strong>the</strong> body of<br />
one of my dead <strong>Mujahideen</strong> fell out of <strong>the</strong> truck bed. The next day<br />
when we returned to recover his body, we discovered that it was booby<br />
trapped. We had to tie a rope to our dead comrade and drag him for a<br />
distance, before it was safe to carry him home for burial.<br />
COMMENTARY: At <strong>the</strong> first ambush site, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Soviet</strong>s failed to put out<br />
flank observers and consequently were surprised by <strong>the</strong> <strong>Mujahideen</strong> <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong>ir stationary truck. This failure compromised <strong>the</strong>ir ambush.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> second ambush site, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Mujahideen</strong> walkers walked around<br />
<strong>the</strong> hills, not along <strong>the</strong> military crest where <strong>the</strong> ambushers should be.<br />
The ambushers wisely let <strong>the</strong> patrol pass to concentrate on <strong>the</strong> vehicle.<br />
However, <strong>the</strong> <strong>Soviet</strong>s failed to employ directional, command-detonated<br />
m<strong>in</strong>es or an RPG to effectively stop <strong>the</strong> truck <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> kill zone. Fur<strong>the</strong>r,<br />
<strong>the</strong> ambush commander did not know <strong>the</strong> size of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Mujahideen</strong> force