Interview with Former Mujahedeen Commander

Former Mujahedeen commander.

At 22 years of age he was single and attending school in Kabul.  The Soviets were already attempting to establish a Soviet-Marxist government in Afghanistan.  Then in December 1979 after executing President Daoud and his family, the Soviet invasion began.  The Soviets brutally attacked villages and provinces opposed to their presence.  Because of these attacks, Major Shah opted to join the Mujahedeen and fight for his country’s freedom against the Soviet occupation.

With his family’s support, he left school and traveled to a Pakistan military training camp.  After one year of intensive training, he returned to his home province of Panjshir as part of the Mujahedeen force.  In one of his first engagements with the Soviet commandos, he claimed to have destroyed 5 helicopters with artillery using Soviet made mortars.  Because of this action, he was promoted to the rank of commander by Ahmad Shah Massoud.  Massoud commonly nicknamed the Lion of Panjshir and also known as the formidable leader of the Northern Alliance presented him a pistol and promoted him to commander status.  As a commander, at any given time he had 300-1000 Mujahedeen fighters under his command.

The ANA Major and I discussed some tactics and military strategy used by the Mujahedeen against the Soviets.  He confirmed when the Soviets would find an IED, at times they would gather around the explosive device for a group picture.  Meanwhile one of his fighters would patiently wait for this opportunity and set off the explosive.  The Major also explained how his Mujahedeen fighters would travel in small groups and ambush the Soviets, similar to the tactics used by the Taliban in attacking coalition forces today.  The key to a successful attack was in planning.  The Mujahedeen fighters would take advantage of the dense vegetation and hide among the trees so they could not be seen by the Soviet helicopters.  They would also attack in early morning or evening when the helos were not present.

Major Shah and I also discussed the use of mines and IEDs as part of their arsenal.  He explained how they would mask their mines or IEDs from the Soviet bomb sniffing dogs.  His fighters would disguise the smell of the explosives by sprinkling spices and fish.  The dogs disliked the smell and would avoid the mines.  He said the Soviets never caught on to this tactic.  Ironically it was a Soviet landmine that ended his Jihad with Massoud’s forces.  He stepped on a landmine and the explosion tore through his feet, hands, and severely injured his left eye.  According to him, American doctors in Panjshir treated his injuries.  He still has visible scars on his hands and there is something noticeably wrong with his eye, but I didn’t want to pry any further.

The religious officer also made a point that their neighboring countries are interfering with the war.  He specifically mentioned Pakistan and Iran.  He alleged these countries are providing weapons and training to the Taliban.  Judging by his demeanor, this obviously upset him to discuss this issue.

After our interview, he inquired if I would like to see the new ANA library.  This was an opportunity I was waiting on.  While walking, I was trying to think of some quote to say about the importance of a library.  My initial thought was a Chinese proverb, “A book is like a garden in the pocket”, but after further thought, I figured this might be too hard for Omid to translate.  Then I thought about the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “A man is known by the books he reads”.  This just didn’t seem fitting either, so I resorted to a quote from our 33^rd President, Harry S. Truman, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers”.

It's the beginning of a library.

The new library was shaping up.  The walls were lined with book shelves made out of particle board and a reading station was positioned in the middle of the room.   In one small corner of the room and on the shelves were all the English books I donated along with 99 books from the previous ANA library.  The only problem they are facing now is security for the facility and having someone there to account for the books.  Part of the remaining building is used for other functions and unless another wall is constructed, they cannot maintain security of the books.  I was happy to see the library and the books, so the finer details of operation will have to be resolved among the ANA leadership.  I get a sense this library will expand and won’t mysteriously disappear like the one at my former camp.

The library is finally completed and books are on the shelves.

Tomorrow I am going to return to see the pistol gifted to him by Massoud and hope to explore in more detail about the Mujahedeen.  My batteries died on the recorder, so I stopped the interview.

Round Table Discussion

Afghan kids playing near C-Wire.

It didn’t take long for Mother Nature to correct her mistake of yesterday’s warm weather and return us back to colder temperatures.  In fact in the afternoon, we were treated to some small snowflakes that subsequently melted and turned to ice as the mercury continued to plummet.  I’m sure the much higher elevations are experiencing even more frigid temperatures than we are exposed to, so I’m not complaining as long as our heater does not freeze up over night.

ANA PBO officer.

My mentoring session this morning turned into quite a surprise and disappointment.  I discovered my ANA PBO had accidentally deleted one of the spreadsheets we have been actively working on this past week.  He wasn’t going to freely admit his mistake except he was frantically populating data in a new spreadsheet.  Had this been a child, perhaps a good scolding was in order, but there wasn’t much I could say or do. Fortunately and unbeknown to me, I have been working on 2 different spreadsheets with the same data and he was cutting and pasting information.  So at least most of the English translation part was saved on the surviving spreadsheet, but the algebraic formulas I input have

Bilingual Dari keyboard.

disappeared into cyber space.  The PBO was planning to work late today in a valiant attempt to restore the lost data.

I purposely cut this mentoring session short so he could work on restoring the spreadsheet.  My interpreter and I hiked up over the hill to visit the ANA Sergeant Major.  He was already boiling hot water for chai in anticipation of our arrival.  I really enjoy talking with the SGM, because he is informative and brutally honest with me.  While the tea was brewing we talked about the Salang Pass and tunnel rescue operations.  His Kandak sent 17 soldiers to help with the rescue efforts to help pull out vehicles that were swept up in the powerful avalanches.  He said one car they helped to retrieve had 6 occupants.  Five of them were dead, but a 6-year old girl managed to survive the encounter.  If anything positive came out of this, was a sense of national pride as ANA, ANP, and government and private organizations aided in the rescue of over 2,500 people.

ANA soldiers training.

Tomorrow is Liberation Day celebrating the last Soviet soldier departure, 15 Feb 1989.  This led to the SGM giving me a little bit more insight what it was like when the Soviets finally left Afghanistan after 10 years of brutal occupation.  He contradicted a book I was reading about how Mujahedeen treated the Afghan soldiers during the Soviet era and the years that followed.  According to my book, The Other Side Of The Mountain:  Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War, the Mujahedeen would try not to purposely kill the Afghan soldiers.  Often many of the Soviet-Afghans would run away from their posts or easily surrender to the Mujahedeen warriors.  But according to the SGM, this wasn’t accurate and the Mujahedeen would kill their own countrymen because they felt betrayal since these men joined the Soviet forces that were responsible for annihilating entire villages and over a million people.

We also briefly discussed the period following the Soviet departure.  This is was a dark time in their history and dominated by civil war between the competing warlords for power.  It’s also what led to the destruction of the city of Kabul and thousands of deaths along with indiscriminate destruction.  Some of these same warlords are the influential people who helped to keep President Karzai in power or currently hold high government or military positions under his administration.

In my attempt to understand the current state of affairs, I am trying to analyze the events of the past leading up to the present environment.  But it’s difficult to find historical testimony of what really transpired after the Soviets left and the vacuum of power that was eventually filled by the Taliban.  Most people are reluctant to discuss the civil war that took place between the factions.  Even in Khaled Hosseini’s, The Kite Runner, he subtly refers to blood money without explanation.  When I try to discuss this period with my ANA counterparts, they generally change the topic or offer little of value.  It’s almost like this is an issue of shame and perhaps only to be discussed and debated among their own people.   Their nonverbal gestures speak volumes too.  It’s quite common when this topic is brought up, their eyes drift to the ground or they nervously clasp their hands together.  My ANA SGM typically strokes his bushy moustache and purposely breaks eye contact with me.  Perhaps this is one area of questioning that should be left alone…to be Cont’d..