The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War [Illustrated Edition] by Lester K. Grau & Ali Ahmad Jalali

Author:Lester K. Grau & Ali Ahmad Jalali [Grau, Lester K. & Jalali, Ali Ahmad]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, Iraq War (2003-2011), Persian Gulf War (1991), United States, Aviation
ISBN: 9781782894766
Google: mxFwCwAAQBAJ
Publisher: PicklePartners
Published: 2014-08-15T23:15:30.172803+00:00

VIGNETTE 4 — SURPRISED BY THE SOVIETS IN THE DARA-E NUR by Doctor Mohammad Sadeq{94}

In March 1984, the DRA and Soviet forces again tried to destroy the Mujahideen forces in the Dara-e Nur Valley. A total of 120 Mujahideen armed with seven RPG-7s, one 82mm mortar, one DShK and many Kalashnikovs blocked their advance at Shokyali Village which is located at the junction of Dara-e Nur and Bar Kot Valleys. (Map 8-4 Bar Kot) We positioned our forces to block both valleys and the high ground between them. The enemy came and tried to overcome our defenses but failed. Then the government sent a group of the area’s elders to talk to us. The elders tried to persuade us not to fight in the area and to leave, but we refused. We held the area for another year before the enemy brought another column against us.

Nader, the DRA police chief for the area, sent us a message also trying to persuadé us not to continue to fight in this area. He warned us that, if we did not leave, the Soviets would destroy all the villages in the area. It was now April 1985. At 2030 hours one evening, my group left the village of Sotan. We were armed with an RPG-7 and Kalashnikovs. We were moving to the junction of the two valleys along the foot of the mountains. One of my men stated “I will fire a shot to show our presence and let the people know that we are not cowards. It will show them that we are not intimidated and that we are still here.” I tried to talk him out of it, but he finally fired the shot. As soon as he fired, the night lit up with return fire from all the Soviets who we discovered were in the area in force. The Soviets had arrived the previous night and had waited all day for us. We had not reached the junction yet, but were at a place called Kar. The Soviets were firing at us from positions on the mountain to the west and to the east is a steep canyon with a sheer 150 meter wall. We were trapped and surrounded, so we went to ground and fought back through the night and next day. With the day, helicopters came and fired at us. We grimly held our position and waited for the next night when we would try a breakout. But the Soviets had also had enough fighting, and they pulled out at the end of the day. I lost one KIA and one. WIA. I do not know if there were any Soviet casualties.

COMMENTARY: The Mujahideen believed in the invulnerability of their defenses and let the routines of positional defense dull their alertness. The Soviets again were able to infiltrate a force deep into the Mujahideen territory and take them by surprise. The lack of Mujahideen discipline triggered the ambush, but apparently triggered the ambush prematurely before the entire force was in the kill zone.

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