but they would have lost a piece of it along the way. Attacking the column in the rear was less risk to us, although sometimes there would be some APCs at the rear of the column.
The enemy reaction when caught in the kill zone was usually ineffective. They normally stopped, dismounted and took cover. They fought back only when assistance arrived. We learned to hit the column and leave. We did not want to fight reinforcements or helicopters because we did not have enough combat power and it was very hard to move our wounded from the area under fire. Later in the morning, a Soviet security force of armored vehicles moved close to us and occupied a position. Then the column came from the north. The security force rejoined the column before the entire column passed. This left the fuel tankers in the rear of the column for us! We hit them by surprise, and it was effective. We damaged or destroyed one jeep and nine tankers. Mohammad Hashem took mt an armored security vehicle with his RPG. We later learned that two Russians fled from the south-bound column when we ambushed it. They were captured by Mujahideen from HIH. As we were getting ready to leave the ambush site, a Soviet armored column came from the south. My southern security group had already pulled back, so we were caught totally by surprise. They began pouring fire into our ranks. Four helicopters also flew over firing at us.
Mohammad Hashem hit one helicopter with his RPG, but the fight was unequal. All of my group, except for Ehsan and myself were wounded - most of them were wounded while we were withdrawing. Most were lightly wounded, but two of them are still paralyzed. What happened is that as we ambushed the tail of the southbound column, a north-bound column was traveling on the same section of road. The heavily-armored head of the north-bound column arrived at the kill zone as we were withdrawing. Helicopters were flying air cover for the arriving column as well. Since my southern security group had withdrawn, we did not know of their arrival until they were firing at us.
COMMENTARY
The road runs through a deep gorge three kilometers south of Dehe Naw. The Soviets probably had anticipated problems at this area and leapfrogged the security force there and put the helicopters overhead to deal with this probable ambush site. Security elements should be the last elements to pull out of an ambush - not the first. The southern security element should have been south on the high ground where it could see. Simple hand-held walkie-talkie radios and a security element that performs its mission would have averted disaster for this Mujahideen commander. The RPG-7 could be an effective anti-helicopter weapon - particularly when several RPGs were fired simultaneously at a hovering helicopter or at a helicopter on the ground.
VIGNETTE 8: AMBUSH NEAR ABDULLAHIE BURJ
by Haji Abdul Qader and Haji Qasab
(Haji Abdul Qader was a HIK commander in the Bagram area. Haji Qasab was a JIA commander in the Deh Baba’Ali area.)
In October 1980, a Soviet column left its base in Bagram to conduct a four day operation against the Mujahideen in the Nejraw District of Kapisa Province. To get there, they crossed the Abdullah-e Burj bridge over the Panjshir River. The bridge is on the main highway connecting Bagram with the provincial capitals of Mahmoud-e Raqi and Deh Baba’Ali and other major towns including Gulbahar in the north and Sarobi in the south. Since this is the only bridge over the Panjshir River in this region, Mujahideen felt that the Soviet force would return to their base by the same route.
The Mujahideen based around the Abdullah-e Burj decided to ambush the column on its return trip when the troops were tired and more vulnerable. They decided to hit the column while it was crossing over the bridge from Kapisa to Parwan Province. The Soviets would be most vulnerable when half their column had crossed the river and their force was divided by the river (Map 9 - Burj). Haji Abdul Qader and Haji Qasab jointly planned and executed the ambush. They decided to let the Soviet force move unopposed until the head of the column reached Qala-e Naw, about 3.5 kilometers southwest of the bridge. The Mujahideen had watched the column depart and knew how long the column was. They calculated that when the column reached Qala-e Naw, half of the column would still be on the north of the river with the tail of the column just south of Deh Baba’Ali. Haji Abdul Qader’s group (about 150 men) would set up their ambush south of the river along the Bagram-Kapisa road. They would set up in the orchards and hills between Qala-e Naw and Abdullah-e Burj. Haji Qasab, reinforced with local Mujahideen from Commander Shahin’s group (about 200 altogether) would ambush north of the river between Abdullah-e Burj and Deh Baba’Ali. The two areas were part of the normal AOs of the two commanders. In both areas, the Mujahideen positioned their RPG-7s close to the road and their heavy machine guns hrther back on dominant terrain. The Mujahideen also supported the ambushes with a few recoilless rifles and 82mm mortars.
On 5 October, the Mujahideen secretly deployed into their designated positions and prepared covered positions for their anti-tank weapons. The Soviet column returned that afternoon. It moved unopposed across the bridge at Abdullah-e Burj, and the head of the column reached Qala-e Naw around 1600 hours. Then, at Haji Abdul Qader’s signal, the ambushes opened fire on the tanks, APCs, and trucks along the entire length of the column. The Soviets were caught by surprise. South of the river, the Soviet forces drove off the road to try to escape to the open plain. However, many vehicles were hit and destroyed by RPG-7 fire. Vehicles were burning and the Soviet infantry which dismounted from the APCs came under heavy machine gun fire.
On the north side of the river, there is little room for vehicles to maneuver in the surrounding green zone of orchards and vineyards. Many soldiers abandoned their vehicles and rushed to try and ford the river.4 Some soldiers were washed away, while others made it to the other side and headed for Bagram across the open plain. Many Soviet soldiers were in a state of panic, and overall command and control had broken down. Some troops established perimeter defenses around their vehicles to hold on until help came. Others abandoned their vehicles and escaped toward Bagram. Some 20 or 30 vehicles were burning. Night fell. Soviet artillery pounded Mujahideen positions around Qala-e Naw, but it was not very effective. The Mujahideen moved through the burning and abandoned vehicles removing supplies and scores of weapons. In the morning, the Soviets sent a relief column from Bagram to relieve the trapped column. The Mujahideen withdrew from the battlefield. At 0800 hours, the remnants of the Soviet column moved on to their Bagram base. Mujahideen losses were light. Haji Abdul Qader’s group had two KIA and seven WIA. Total enemy casualties are unknown.
COMMENTARY
There were several factors contributing to the Mujahideen success. First, proper selection of the ambush site was key. The Mujahideen caught the Soviet column straddling the river and forced it to fight two separate, unsupported battles. There was little room to maneuver except over the sourthern escape route. Second, the time of the ambush was optimum. The late afternoon arrival gave Mujahideen gunners just enough time to inflict maximum damage, but not enough time for Soviet air power to react. Soviet artillery could cover only a portion of the battlefield and apparently no forward Crossing the Panjshir River, or any of Afghanistan’s major rivers, is always very risky. The rivers often appear calm and shallow, but they are treacherous. The Soviet soldiers, who expected to cross the river on a vehicle over the bridge, were probably not briefed as to the danger.
Observers were forward to adjust artillery fire during the night. Third, the Mujahideen had surprise. The column had driven out on this road unmolested and expected to return unopposed. The soldiers were cold and tired, and their guard was down. The head of the column could see Bagram airbase when they
