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

VIGNETTE 2
THE BATTLE FOR MUSA QALEH
BY AKHUND ZADA QASEM
We started the resistance using very simple methods. We had few
antitank weapons and so our main defenses were antitank ditches and
Molotov cocktails that we made in the villages. The people would wait
in their antitank ditches with axes to sort it out. I remember one fight
where I became so frustrated with our inability to stop armored vehicles
that I set my turban on fire and threw it at the tank. However, we
eventually received better weapons and set about regaining control of
our country. In the summer of 1980, we Mujahideen liberated Musa
Qaleh District and established our base there. (Map 13-1 - Qaleh)
Musa Qaleh is in a heavily-populated green zone on the Musa Qaleh
Stream which empties into the Helmond River. The area around Musa
Qaleh is high desert plain.
In June 1983, the Soviets launched an offensive to control Helmond
Province. They began with an attack from Girishk moving north
toward Nawzad (which is to the west of Musa Qaleh). This column
attacked the Mujahideen of HIH at their base in the Farhad Mountain.
The Mujahideen of Musa Qaleh sent their MRL to this fight to strike
the Soviets. After the Soviets reduced the HIH base, they sent two
columns to attack Musa Qaleh. The column that had destroyed the
HIH base turned east and moved against us while a second column
moved from Girishk along the river roads and approached us from the
southwest. The columns met and cordoned Musa Qaleh.
We had established a perimeter defense and we fought the Soviets
for seven days in late June and early July 1983. We lost 472
Mujahideen KIA. Civilian deaths were much higher. I was in charge
of the hospital at that time and it was overflowing. During the fighting,
Soviet tanks arrived from the east and were just 300 meters south
Akhund Zada Qasem was a commander with Harakat-e Ingilab-i Islami (HAR) of Mawlawi
Nabi Mohammadi. He was also in charge of medical support to the Musa Qaleh Front in
Helmond Province. This was a major Mujahideen stronghold under the late Mawlawi
Nasim Akhund Zada. Akhund Zada was one of the major Mujahideen regional commanders.
After his assassination in 1986, his brother Mawlawi Sediq Akhund Zada took over.
This front was in control Of much of Helmond Province during the war and was one of the
few major unified Mujahideen commands. The front was supported by and became rich
from the drug trade. Qasem was in charge of medical support and was a member of the
counsel of the command. [Map sheet 1981].