Afghan war: Deepest attack inside Soviet Union

[Providence]

Guys read "Blink"

 

[Psychic]

Gotta read this book .. Once I finish the one I'm reading currently and than "Mein kampf" or The Bear Trap... ??

Great read and very informative book.
Clears many common misconceptions about Afghan war.

Guys read "Blink"

What's that?

 

[Providence]

What's that?

It is a malcom gladwell book. One of his classics after "Tipping Point". It explains how you can size up a person by looking at his personal space etc.

It is not related to war though but immensely helpful in daily life

 

[Psychic]

It is a malcom gladwell book. One of his classics after "Tipping Point". It explains how you can size up a person by looking at his personal space etc.

It is not related to war though but immensely helpful in daily life

Sounds interesting.

 

[Providence]

Sounds interesting.

They are short books and english is extremely lucid. Something which Gladwell is known for. He writes things which are profound but surprisingly simple at the same time.

All of you guys may want to give it a thought. Enough with war books

 

[Levina]

"The bear trap" by Brig Yousef Shah

The man who planned it all.

I read bits and parts of this incident in a book called "Ghost wars" while I was searching some info for my thread "The new enemy".

Thanks for the tag!

 

[Kharral]

The book is a very interesting read, I read it online as well & finished in just one day. It's a pretty honest account of Pakistans policy & operations in Afghanistan & the relation with America vis a vis Afghanistan.

 

[Desert Fox]

Hard copy is the best option. Not only your eyes, but back and neck are also stressed if you read eBook versions.

What if one reads it on a kindle, is that still bad?

 

[Secur]

And today we can see the wonders, the so called Tajik-Uzbek-Chechen "Mujahids" commonly known as "foreign militants" (though they settled here after Afghan war since nobody accepted them back home anymore) did since then. Ladies and Gentlemen, give a big round of applause for General Zia-ul Haq (the commander of faithfuls), the military establishment and the "far sighted" planners of the 80's!

What if one reads it on a kindle, is that still bad?

I don't think so, kindle utilizes a different display technology than almost all smartphones (Yotaphone is an exception) hence the prolonged battery time, it doesn't strain the eyes that much.

 

[Psychic]

And today we can see the wonders, the so called Tajik-Uzbek-Chechen "Mujahids" commonly known as "foreign militants" (though they settled here after Afghan war since nobody accepted them back home anymore) did since then. Ladies and Gentlemen, give a big round of applause for General Zia-ul Haq (the commander of faithfuls), the military establishment and the "far sighted" planners of the 80's!

So those 80 year olds are attacking us now?

 

[Psychic]

What if one reads it on a kindle, is that still bad?

I haven't experienced kindle yet.

 

[Secur]

So those 80 year olds are attacking us now?

Human beings do reproduce, don't they?

 

[Psychic]

Human beings do reproduce, don't they?

Anyone in power at that time would have done the same even Bhutto who infact took the initiative to help Islamists because the circumstances didn't give Pakistsn a better option. Soviet Union had no right whatsoever to invade Afghanistan ( one of the reasons of that invasion was the natural resources of Afghanistan ).
Pakistan fortunately or unfortunately has such a geo strategic location and neighborhood that it cannot ignore Afghanistan.
Now let's stop blaming every ill on Zia or yahoodis. Had your beloved liberal Musharraf been in power at that time, he would have done the same.
Plus TTP came into existence in 2004. The Haqqanis, Hekmetyars etc have not declared a war on Pakistan. Your beloved Northern Alliance leadership at some time also faught against Soviets didn't they?
BTW this thread was not opened with the purpose of political discussion.

 

[Secur]

Anyone in power at that time would have done the same even Bhutto who infact took the initiative to help Islamists because the circumstances didn't give Pakistsn a better option. Soviet Union had no right whatsoever to invade Afghanistan ( one of the reasons of that invasion was the natural resources of Afghanistan ).
Pakistan fortunately or unfortunately has such a geo strategic location and neighborhood that it cannot ignore Afghanistan.
Now let's stop blaming every ill on Zia or yahoodis. Had your beloved liberal Musharraf been in power at that time, he would have done the same.
Plus TTP came into existence in 2004. The Haqqanis, Hekmetyars etc have not declared a war on Pakistan. Your beloved Northern Alliance leadership at some time also faught against Soviets didn't they?
BTW this thread was not opened with the purpose of political discussion.

No, a rational leader or planner wouldn't have gone this the way of the likes of Zia! You don't poison your whole family while trying to fight cockroaches. There were better ways of tackling the USSR threat, which weren't pursued by the short sighted and not so bright top brass of the 80's! Furthermore the Soviets didn't post as much a threat as Pakistanis were told for gathering support, the isolated Zia regime exaggerated the threat to unrealistic levels so to further their own interests of providing legitimacy to the rule. And even if somehow I accept the decision to spread radicalization and extremism in the society and creation of Mujaheddin as being a necessity at that time, that still won't explain the again pathetic decision to create an entity known as Taliban (the ones biting us now today!) even after seeing the behavior of the Mujahids cutting the throats of each other (Peshawar accord comes to mind!) after the godless reds departed.

Plus, Pakistanis had been taught an intolerant and barbaric interpretation of the religion for too long! The ideology behind TTP persisted long before it came into existence. The only thing that delayed it (seeing how you got worst sectarian conflicts after Zia) was the state's policy to continue to support it among the masses. The Haqqanis may not have declared a war on this country, they sure as hell aren't contributing to the peace process and still side with the enemies of Pakistan across the border. Are you aware that later villained Ahmed Shah Massoud was once trained by ISI? The Lion of Panjshir.

So, any other better arguments than "your beloved"? Your thought process behind opening this thread doesn't limit its scope in any way according to the PDF rules, unfortunately.

 

[Amaa'n]

Gotta read this book .. Once I finish the one I'm reading currently and than "Mein kampf" or The Bear Trap... ??

The Bear Trap for sure but its a hard find....i ran up and down for this but couldn't find it, finally picked it up from a big book store "Saeed Books' islamabad.....its a must read.....while you are at it, also pick a copy of Profiles of Intelligence - by Brigadier Trimzi, he led various CI ops during Soviet war

Probing the bear
Afghanistan touched the borders of Soviet Union with Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. These were Muslim majority areas and Southern central Asia had belonged to Soviet Union for only about a hundred years.
It was decided by ISI and CIA to start incursions in these regions. Although CIA provided ISI with maps and satellite photos of Afghanistan but for some reason, they did not provide any of those in the case of Soviet Union.
At first,in 1984, contacts were made in Uzbekistan and the response of locals was favourable. Thousands of copies of Holy Quran in Uzbek were printed and then taken across the border of Afghanistan and distributed among the locals.
Then over the next few years, several cross border raids were conducted apart from firing from within the Afghan border into Soviet Union.
The river Amu or the Oxus formed the border between Afghanistan and Soviet Union for about 500 kilometers. Several raids were launched across that river in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan from within Afghanistan.

Poking the bear
During the late 1986, ISI began tentative planning for more ambitious attacks inside Soviet Union. Commanders were briefed, trained and supplied with weapons and ammunition well before the winter set in because snow blocks the passes during winters. The offensives were to be initiated in spring 1987.
The first attack involved carrying out rocket shelling of a Soviet airbase but as the air base was close to the border, so firing position was set inside Afghanistan. The attack was a success.
The second one involved twenty men armed with RPG's and anti tank mines tasked with ambushing frontier road East of Termez. Between that town and Tajikistan border. They were to lay mines between two security posts, wait for vehicles, ambush them and then withdraw. In that event, three soft skinned Soviet vehicles drove down the road at night, one was hit by anti tank mine and the other two with RPG rounds. Several Soviet soldiers were reportedly killed. The team made it back unscathed.
We will talk about the third attack, which was the most ambitious attack in which, an industrial site 20 kilometers north of Amu close to airfield at Voroshilovabad was attacked. This attack had far reaching political and military consequences.

Deepest incursion

Commander
The commander selected for this operation by ISI was an ethnic Uzbek mujahid who had been very active in the incursions into Soviet Union. We will call him "Wali" which is not his real name.
Wali was a middle aged man at the time of attack. His background was typical to that of millions of Afghans. He used to live in a tiny village(destroyed by Russians afterwards) in Imam Sahib district on the South Bank of river Amu in Kunduz province.
Wali received a little religious education and could read a little bit as per the local culture. He became a herdsman at the age of ten and learned to plough at fifteen.Wali grew up besides the Amu so he had extensive knowledge of the area. He knew the river, swamps, pathways, little Sandy islands in the river and strength of the current.
Wali had a wife, two sons and a daughter.
Wali's life had been devastated by the Soviet invasion. His village was destroyed his daughter killed in Soviet bombing. His sons joined the Mujahedeen, one of them soon died in battle and the other one went missing. A fate worse than death because Wali feared that he might have been captured, tortured and executed. After devastation of their village, he and his wife fled to Chitral Pakistan.
His knowledge of the border region, coupled with his oath of vengeance taken against the Soviets made him an excellent choice for a deep cross border attack.

The attack on industrial site

Preparations
By 1986, Wali had proven himself an excellent commander and he had 300 men under his command. His first cross border action was a reconissance mission in 1984 and after that, he led numerous croos border raids.
The area between Amu, north of Shirkhan(map below) and the Soviet town of Kurgan Tyube was well developed with no less than nine airfields, industrial facilities, railway depots and power stations. In short, this area was full of worthwhile targets.
Wali was tasked by ISI to:
1- Go in on a long range reconaissance in specified area.
2- Make contacts and friends.
3- Find a suitable target.
4- Select firing positions.
5- Select route in and route out.
As Wali was supplied with Chinese 107mm rockets with a range of 9km, he needed to find a target only as far that he would be able to reach 9km from target by the night and withdraw hurriedly before the morning.

Reconnaissance
For reconnaissance, Wali took two of his men with him, they crossed the river Amu from ShirKhan side in small recce boats and spent the night in a friend's house in Tajikistan. Wali along with his guide friend set out for the hills the next day hoping to find a suitable target. They had no map and Wali only had a compass and binoculars for navigation. They were on the hills with Soviet industrial complexes below them on the cotton-growing plains. They did not know the names of the complexes or the airfields below them.
They had covered 12 kilometers on the hills kepping to the goat and sheep trails when Wali scanned the plains below with his binoculars. He could see an airfield and a cluster of chimnies behind that airfield. Wali selected that industrial site as his target. That was in Voroshilovabad area.
Wali took the bearing from the spur on which he stood. The factories were more or less lined up on 283 degrees. The estimated distance was between 7 to 9 kilometers. The firing position was simple as it could have been anywhere on the spur on which he stood. Factories were spread over a large area so there was a chance that he would hit something anyways.
Wali and his comrades returned home, rechecking the route they went, noticing the landmarks along the route and timing themselves over the distance. It was a round trip of 8 hours.

Weapons used in the attack
The target was to be hit with rockets.
Initially, it was decided that one Chinese 107mm SBRL(single barrel rocket launcher) will be taken but Wali decided to take two SBRL's instead of one just to make sure (incase of failure in one launcher). These Chinese 107mm SBRL's had effective range of 9 kilometers.
Each SBRL which weighed 23 kilograms was manpacked by two men, one carried the bipod and the other carried the barrel.
Wali decided to fire thirty rockets, which would require thirty men to carry them apart from four carrying the launchers. Each projectile weighed 18 kilograms.
Apart from regular HE(high explosive) rockets, ten of the rockets were smoke rockets which Wali had included for their incendiary properties as he intended to set buildings on fire.
Thus a total force of 34 men(excluding Wali) was assembled. Personal weapons (ak's, pistols) were also taken.

View attachment 236666
Chinese 107mm SBRL-file photo

View attachment 236667
107mm rounds-file photo
​

The attack

View attachment 236668
Voroshilovabad(target area) is marked by blue flag. Notice Imam Sahib and ShirKhan
​

Wali's team crossed Amu in four recce boats at night in mid April 1987 from the ShirKhan area. He met his guide on the other side who led them between Soviet border posts to their hiding place in a scrub-covered gully in the hills beyond his village.They spent the day Hiding under blankets and rocks, trying to sleep and occasionally nibbling at nan(flat bread) or drinking water from their goatskin water bottles.
It took them five hours of hard marching to reach their firing positions.
Both SBRL's were set with fifteen rockets per piece. Wali took his bearing and went to each rocket launcher to check it's setting. He adjusted the elevation of one launcher to 8km and other to 7.5km to give him a better chance of hitting.
"Allah o Akbar....fire" and with their distinctive whoosh and soar the two rockets left their launchers in graceful arcs. Then both launchers fired independently until all rockets were gone. Wali noticed from his binoculars something burning and came to knew that strike was a success but he did not have the time for sightseeing as they had to get out.

Getting out
They did not have enough time left to go back before the morning so the next day was spent hiding under boulders from where they witnessed Soviet reaction. Gunships and planes flying south to bomb the already ruined villages in Afghanistan.
The next night, they recrossed the Amu river and were back in Afghanistan. Soviet aircraft had been dropping thousands of anti personal mines in northern Afghanistan, most of the mines were of butterfly types. These mines had tiny wings which prevented them from tumbling on their way down, colored brown or green, they were hard to spot and could remove the foot of the unwary.
This is what happened to Wali. He stepped on a mine and bang. A few moments later, his left foot was hanging with a piece of tendon and skin. His field amputation was a tourniquet with a piece of cord and then a cut with a knife to remove the foot. Stretcher was made with blanket tied to rifles but their difficulties would not end as Soviets would continue to hound them over the next six days in which, four more of his men were wounded.
Wali was finally brought to Pakistan after several weeks to recieve proper medical attention where he survived and started to work in a carpet shop. Wali preferred death over such an injury as he wanted to continue fighting the Soviets.
Had he been a regular soldier, he would have been awarded the highest gallantry award but he was still content to know that his attack had been too successful, too daring and too damaging

Aftermath
Right after Wali's attack, Soviet warplanes and gunships bombed northern Afghanistan round the clock over the next week. Wali had made a cut in the soft underbelly of Soviet Union.
Wali's attack had caused significant damage to the industrial site. The smoke rockets had caused a fire which consumed several buildings. It was the suddenness, ferocity and the distance (20km inside Soviet Union) which was so galling to the enemy.
Three successful attacks within three weeks caused Moscow to instruct it's ambassador in Pakistan to use whatever language necessary to stop these attacks.
Soviets also feared the effect of these attacks on the local Muslim population, which could launch rebellion.
Pakistan's foreign minister Sahibzada Yaqub Ali Khan believed that integrity of Pakistan was under threat, that threat was itself confirmation that the attacks were hurting.
Prime minister Junejo halted further attacks inside Soviet Union.
Despite above mentioned facts, Soviet Union was in no position to attack Pakistan as it agreed to withdraw from Afghanistan in the next few months.

Reference
"The bear trap" by Brig Yousef Shah​

The moment i started read the first 3 lines, I knew the story sounded familiar to me, scrolled down to the bottom to find the source.....this book was a great read.....I read it last year.....

The man who planned it all.

I read bits and parts of this incident in a book called "Ghost wars" while I was searching some info for my thread "The new enemy".

Thanks for the tag!

rightly said, he was the main man who planned and executed it all, he went to depth about explaining the culture and living style of Pushtuns. And if you compare that war with that of todayh - that is being fought in Pakistan today against TTP, you will find no difference, as if only the enemy is changed, the rest remains the same....
About Ghost Wars, I was going to pick it up but then decided to go with 'The Way of Knife'...its a very good read of US secret war, the transformation from CIA analysts toppling Governments in African countries (80s/90s) to carrying out CT ops across the globe....it also touches CIA / JSOC boots on ground in Pakistan during 2004-2010