Panjshir offensives
Encyclopedia
The Panjshir offensives ( - Panjsher Operations) were a series of battles between the Soviet Army
and groups of Afghan Mujahideen under Ahmad Shah Massoud for the control of the strategic Panjshir Valley
, during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
in the period from 1980 to 1985.
These battles saw some of the most violent fighting of the whole war, but despite nine attacks the Soviets and their Afghan communist
allies were not able to subdue the Panjshir.
, in the Hindu Kush
mountains close to the Salang pass
, which connects Kabul to the northern areas of Afghanistan and further on to Uzbekistan
, then part of the Soviet Union
. In June 1979, an insurrection led by Ahmed Shah Massoud expelled all government forces, and the valley became a guerilla stronghold.
From the Panjshir, Mujahideen groups frequently carried out ambushes against Soviet convoys bringing supplies to the 40th army stationed in Afghanistan. The Salang pass became a dangerous area, and Soviet truck drivers were even awarded decorations for having successfully crossed it. The pressure on the logistic system determined the Soviet command to try and dislodge the rebels.
had three main tactical features. There was (1) the concentration of air assets, including extensive aerial bombardment of a target area followed by (2) the landing of helicopter forces to stop the withdrawal of enemy forces and engage the enemy from unexpected directions and (3) a drive by of mechanized forces into areas of guerilla support in conjunction with the helicopter landing parties. It was these kinds of tactics that caused so much destruction in the civilian populations in these regions and led many to call it genocide. "If guerillas are fish swimming in the water of the people, then the aim is to empty the fish bowl." By forcing the mass migration of civilians the Panjshir Valley and destroying all crops and livestock, the Soviet's hoped to deprive Ahmad Shah Massoud of resources to sustain his full time fighters.
that characterized the war. Mujahideen forces would often learn of coming offensives in advance from their compatriots in the DRA army. Not only could civilians and guerillas move safely out of the way of the majority of the bombs but guerillas could also plan ambushes, lay mines, and move weapons caches. Once armored personnel carriers and helicopters came the guerillas would retreat into the side valleys and carry out small ambushes rather than openly confront the Soviets.
s. The Mujahideen, who weren't strong enough to confront the Soviet army in the open, blended in with the local population and generally waited until the Soviets had left to resume their activities.
s, the Soviets sent their sapper
units to clear the way in front of the main force. This tactic proved costly, and the attack force penetrated only 25 km into the valley before retiring, after having suffered 100 casualties.
The main assault began on the night of May 16, after an intense aviation and artillery bombardment.
While motorized rifle battalions, preceded by reconnaissance
units, attacked the dominating features at the entrance of the valley, airborne units were airlifted by helicopter behind the main Mujahideen defenses. In all, 4,200 troops were airlifted into the valley to capture strategic points, right up to the Pakistan
i border, in an effort to cut the Mujahideen supply lines.
In some areas the fighting was intense: when a Soviet paratrooper regiment landed east of Rukha, it was quickly encircled and suffered significant losses. The beleaguered paratroopers were saved only by the arrival of a motorised rifle battalion led by Major Aushev, who forced his way through the Mujahideen defenses, consisting of well-located strong points, and captured Rukha. For his actions, Aushev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union
.
Massoud, who expected an attack similar to the previous ones, had disposed his defenses close to the entrance of the valley, and was thus unable to prevent the Soviets from gaining footholds in the Panjshir. They established three main bases at Rukha, Bazarak
and Anava. Most of the Mujahideen had survived the attack and Massoud divided them into small, mobile groups that fought the Soviets all down the valley.
During this offensive, the Soviets managed to occupy a large part of the Panjshir and scored some successes against Massoud's organization, such as the capture of a list of the names of 600 of his agents in Kabul. However, most of the rebels had escaped capture, and this was not the decisive victory the Soviets had been hoping for. Also, their heavily fortified bases only gave them control over the valley floor, while the surrounding heights were still held by the Mujahideen. For this reason they decided to launch a sixth offensive.
units, launched from their bases in the Panjshir, to find and destroy the Mujahideen hideouts. It was accompanied by a heavy aerial bombardment of villages suspected of harbouring rebel groups, notably carried out by Tu-16
bombers flying from inside the Soviet Union. Heliborne troops carried out search and destroy
missions, encircling Massoud's mobile units and destroying some of them. However, as a rule attrition among the Mujahideen was low, and the brunt of the attacks fell on the civilian population, who suffered heavily, many of them preferring to flee the valley.
Despite bitter fighting, the Soviets were unable to eradicate the Mujahideen, and the battle soon developed into a stalemate. During the 5th and 6th offensives the Soviets suffered up to 3,000 casualties, and 1,000 Afghan Army
soldiers defected to the Mujahideen.
Once the height of the offensive had passed, many areas captured by the Soviet forces were handed over to Afghan army units, who suffered from low morale and high desertion rates. They were the targets for Massoud's counterattacks. In a series of surprise attacks, several government outposts fell to the rebels. The first was the Afghan Army outpost at Saricha, which the Mujahideen captured along with 80 prisoners and 8 tanks, despite having to cross a minefield. The government post at Birjaman fell soon after, and the Mujahideen were able to recapture some areas in this way. These operations, along with the continued harassment of Soviet garrisons and resupply convoys, proved that the Mujahideen were far from defeated, and convinced the Soviets that they must negotiate a truce with Massoud.
In January 1983, for the first time a ceasefire was concluded between the Soviets and the Mujahideen, lasting 6 months, and later extended. Negotiated by Massoud in person with a colonel of the GRU
, Anatoly Tkachev, the agreement stipulated that Soviet troops should evacuate the Panjshir, except for a small garrison at Anava, whose access was controlled by the Mujahideen. The area covered by the ceasefire included the Panjshir valley, but not the Salang pass, where fighting continued.
Massoud took advantage of the truce to extend his influence over areas that had until then been held by hostile factions loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
's Hezb-i-islami party, like in Andarab
. More peacefully, he took control of the Khost-Fereng sector
, and some areas in southern Takhar, while establishing contacts with other guerilla groups in Baghlan Province, and persuading them to adopt his military organisation. He also ordered the strengthening of defenses in five subsidiary valleys as well as in the Panjshir, permitting a defense in depth, and withdrew his headquarters to Shira Mandara, in Takhar province, in anticipation of a renewed assault.
replaced Yuri Andropov
as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
. While Andropov had supported the ceasefire, Chernenko, a disciple of Brezhnev
, believed that the guerillas should be rooted out through military action, an opinion which he shared with Babrak Karmal
, president of the DRA
. As a result a new offensive was planned, which, in Karmal's words, should be decisive and merciless, and in order to destroy the Panjshir valley bases, all those living there should be killed.
However, some Soviets, who were supporters of Andropov, disagreed with this policy, and they gave Massoud advance warning of the attack. Through this channel, and thanks to his agents in the DRA government Massoud had a precise idea of the Soviet plans, and he was able to counter them. To avoid civilian casualties, all 30,000 inhabitants of the Panjshir (from a population of 100,000 before the war) were evacuated to safe areas. Only ambush parties were left to delay the Soviet advance. All the roads, villages and helicopter landing zones were heavily mined. All these preparations were carried out in secret, and a token activity was maintained near the Soviet base at Anava, to deceive the Soviets into believing that a conventional defense was being prepared.
11,000 Soviet and 2,600 Afghan soldiers, under Marshal of the Soviet Union
Sergei Sokolov participated in the offensive, supported by 200 airplanes and 190 helicopters. On April 22, after a two-day bombardment of the region by Tu-16, Tu-22M and Su-24
bombers, they advanced rapidly into the Panjshir. Several battalion strength forces were placed at key passes leading out of the Panjshir valley while at the same time large helicopter troop landings were made in tributary valleys connected to the Panjshir. By blocking the mujahideen's withdrawal routes and securing the high ground, the Soviets forced them higher into the mountains then they had previously ventured and scattered their strength as they attempted to avoid being trapped by the helicopter landings. Once the strength of Massud's forces were dealt such a deadly blow, rather than withdrawing from the valley as they had previously done they began setting up a system of forts and posts throughout the main valley while relinquishing control of the side valleys. These tactics proved more effective at rooting out insurgents and breaking up their fighting forces during the offensive but had limited long term success. The forts and outposts along the Panjshir Valley were unable to protect roads and convoys as well as they had hoped and these installations proved attractive targets for the mujahideen to harass. Much of the valley was occupied, but the Soviets paid a heavy price; many soldiers were killed by mines and in ambushes. During one battle, on April 30 in the Hazara valley, the 1st battalion of the 682nd motorized rifle regiment was decimated: the losses of Soviet troops were estimated at 60 killed.
For the Soviets, the operation was partly successful - some of the infrastructure of the Mujahideen, created in the time of the truce in 1982-1983, was destroyed. Babrak Karmal completed a propaganda visit of the Panjshir, which for some time had become a safe zone. However, it quickly became apparent that most of Massoud's forces had escaped the onslaught, and were still able to carry out their harassment tactics. Eventually, in September, the Soviet-DRA forces once again evacuated the Panjshir valley, leaving occupying forces only in the lower Panjshir.
of the Afghan Army.
Initiated hours after the raid, the Soviet counter-attack installed a new garrison in Peshgur, and pursued the retreating Mujahideen. The group escorting the captured Afghan officers was caught in the open by Soviet helicopters, and in the ensuing fight most of the prisoners were killed, with both sides projecting on each other the responsibility for the incident
announced his intention of withdrawing the Soviet contingent from Afghanistan. From then on the Soviets were mostly concerned with avoiding losses in the Panjshir sector, and they observed a tacit ceasefire: unprovoked shooting by Soviet troops was forbidden, and the Mujahideen refrained from attacking Soviet bases. Despite provocations ordered by Najibullah
s government to draw the Soviets into further fighting, the situation generally remained calm, enabling Massoud to carry out his "strategic offensive", capturing much of Baghlan and Takhar provinces. The last Soviet and Afghan troops present in the lower Panjshir were finally evacuated in June 1988.
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
and groups of Afghan Mujahideen under Ahmad Shah Massoud for the control of the strategic Panjshir Valley
Panjshir Valley
The Panjshir Province is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 km north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range. Located in the Panjshir Province it is divided by the Panjshir River...
, during the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
in the period from 1980 to 1985.
These battles saw some of the most violent fighting of the whole war, but despite nine attacks the Soviets and their Afghan communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
allies were not able to subdue the Panjshir.
A strategic objective
The Panjshir valley lies 70 km north of KabulKabul
Kabul , spelt Caubul in some classic literatures, is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. It is also the capital of the Kabul Province, located in the eastern section of Afghanistan...
, in the Hindu Kush
Hindu Kush
The Hindu Kush is an mountain range that stretches between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The highest point in the Hindu Kush is Tirich Mir in the Chitral region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.It is the westernmost extension of the Pamir Mountains, the Karakoram Range, and is a...
mountains close to the Salang pass
Kotal-e Salang
The Salang Pass is the major mountain pass connecting northern Afghanistan and Kabul province, with further connections to southern Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is just to the east of the Kushan Pass, and both of them were of great importance in early times as they provided the most direct...
, which connects Kabul to the northern areas of Afghanistan and further on to Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan , officially the Republic of Uzbekistan is a doubly landlocked country in Central Asia and one of the six independent Turkic states. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south....
, then part of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. In June 1979, an insurrection led by Ahmed Shah Massoud expelled all government forces, and the valley became a guerilla stronghold.
From the Panjshir, Mujahideen groups frequently carried out ambushes against Soviet convoys bringing supplies to the 40th army stationed in Afghanistan. The Salang pass became a dangerous area, and Soviet truck drivers were even awarded decorations for having successfully crossed it. The pressure on the logistic system determined the Soviet command to try and dislodge the rebels.
Soviet Strategy
Soviet offensives into the Panjshir ValleyPanjshir Valley
The Panjshir Province is a valley in north-central Afghanistan, 150 km north of Kabul, near the Hindu Kush mountain range. Located in the Panjshir Province it is divided by the Panjshir River...
had three main tactical features. There was (1) the concentration of air assets, including extensive aerial bombardment of a target area followed by (2) the landing of helicopter forces to stop the withdrawal of enemy forces and engage the enemy from unexpected directions and (3) a drive by of mechanized forces into areas of guerilla support in conjunction with the helicopter landing parties. It was these kinds of tactics that caused so much destruction in the civilian populations in these regions and led many to call it genocide. "If guerillas are fish swimming in the water of the people, then the aim is to empty the fish bowl." By forcing the mass migration of civilians the Panjshir Valley and destroying all crops and livestock, the Soviet's hoped to deprive Ahmad Shah Massoud of resources to sustain his full time fighters.
Shortcomings of Soviet Strategy
This tactic had some success as Massud was forced to sign a cease fire treaty in January 1983 that would last for one year in order to rebuild his organization. The bottom line though was that these victories were very temporary. There were serious issues with this tactic of large punitive offensives that contributed to the stalemateStalemate
Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check but has no legal moves. A stalemate ends the game in a draw. Stalemate is covered in the rules of chess....
that characterized the war. Mujahideen forces would often learn of coming offensives in advance from their compatriots in the DRA army. Not only could civilians and guerillas move safely out of the way of the majority of the bombs but guerillas could also plan ambushes, lay mines, and move weapons caches. Once armored personnel carriers and helicopters came the guerillas would retreat into the side valleys and carry out small ambushes rather than openly confront the Soviets.
Panjshir III - March 3–4, 1981
The first three offensives were small-scale operations, involving only four battalionBattalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
s. The Mujahideen, who weren't strong enough to confront the Soviet army in the open, blended in with the local population and generally waited until the Soviets had left to resume their activities.
Panjshir IV - September 6, 1981
By this time, Massoud had mustered enough men to openly resist the Soviet assault. During this offensive, to avoid losing vehicles to land mineLand mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
s, the Soviets sent their sapper
Sapper
A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...
units to clear the way in front of the main force. This tactic proved costly, and the attack force penetrated only 25 km into the valley before retiring, after having suffered 100 casualties.
Panjshir V - May 16, 1982
The first major offensive was carried out by a force of 12,000 soldiers under the command of General N.G. Ter-Grigoryan supported by 104 helicopters and 26 airplanes.The main assault began on the night of May 16, after an intense aviation and artillery bombardment.
While motorized rifle battalions, preceded by reconnaissance
Reconnaissance
Reconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
units, attacked the dominating features at the entrance of the valley, airborne units were airlifted by helicopter behind the main Mujahideen defenses. In all, 4,200 troops were airlifted into the valley to capture strategic points, right up to the Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
i border, in an effort to cut the Mujahideen supply lines.
In some areas the fighting was intense: when a Soviet paratrooper regiment landed east of Rukha, it was quickly encircled and suffered significant losses. The beleaguered paratroopers were saved only by the arrival of a motorised rifle battalion led by Major Aushev, who forced his way through the Mujahideen defenses, consisting of well-located strong points, and captured Rukha. For his actions, Aushev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
.
Massoud, who expected an attack similar to the previous ones, had disposed his defenses close to the entrance of the valley, and was thus unable to prevent the Soviets from gaining footholds in the Panjshir. They established three main bases at Rukha, Bazarak
Bazarak, Panjshir
Bazarak is a town in the Panjshir Valley, in northern Afghanistan. It is also the provincial capital of Panjshir Province. It has six villages: Khanez, Jangalak, Malaspa, Parandeh, Rahmankhil...
and Anava. Most of the Mujahideen had survived the attack and Massoud divided them into small, mobile groups that fought the Soviets all down the valley.
During this offensive, the Soviets managed to occupy a large part of the Panjshir and scored some successes against Massoud's organization, such as the capture of a list of the names of 600 of his agents in Kabul. However, most of the rebels had escaped capture, and this was not the decisive victory the Soviets had been hoping for. Also, their heavily fortified bases only gave them control over the valley floor, while the surrounding heights were still held by the Mujahideen. For this reason they decided to launch a sixth offensive.
Panjshir VI - August - September, 1982
The sixth offensive consisted of a series of sweeps conducted by motorised units and by airborne SpetsnazSpetsnaz
Spetsnaz, Specnaz tr: Voyska specialnogo naznacheniya; ) is an umbrella term for any special forces in Russian, literally "force of special purpose"...
units, launched from their bases in the Panjshir, to find and destroy the Mujahideen hideouts. It was accompanied by a heavy aerial bombardment of villages suspected of harbouring rebel groups, notably carried out by Tu-16
Tupolev Tu-16
The Tupolev Tu-16 was a twin-engine jet bomber used by the Soviet Union. It has flown for more than 50 years, and the Chinese license-built Xian H-6 remains in service with the Chinese air force.-Development:...
bombers flying from inside the Soviet Union. Heliborne troops carried out search and destroy
Search and destroy
Search and Destroy, Seek and Destroy, or even simply S&D, refers to a military strategy that became a notorious component of the Vietnam War. The idea was to insert ground forces into hostile territory, search out the enemy, destroy them, and withdraw immediately afterward...
missions, encircling Massoud's mobile units and destroying some of them. However, as a rule attrition among the Mujahideen was low, and the brunt of the attacks fell on the civilian population, who suffered heavily, many of them preferring to flee the valley.
Despite bitter fighting, the Soviets were unable to eradicate the Mujahideen, and the battle soon developed into a stalemate. During the 5th and 6th offensives the Soviets suffered up to 3,000 casualties, and 1,000 Afghan Army
Military of Afghanistan
The military of Afghanistan is composed of the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Army Air Force . Being a landlocked country, Afghanistan has no navy, and the private security forces who are sometimes seen wearing military uniforms are not part of Afghanistan's military...
soldiers defected to the Mujahideen.
Once the height of the offensive had passed, many areas captured by the Soviet forces were handed over to Afghan army units, who suffered from low morale and high desertion rates. They were the targets for Massoud's counterattacks. In a series of surprise attacks, several government outposts fell to the rebels. The first was the Afghan Army outpost at Saricha, which the Mujahideen captured along with 80 prisoners and 8 tanks, despite having to cross a minefield. The government post at Birjaman fell soon after, and the Mujahideen were able to recapture some areas in this way. These operations, along with the continued harassment of Soviet garrisons and resupply convoys, proved that the Mujahideen were far from defeated, and convinced the Soviets that they must negotiate a truce with Massoud.
In January 1983, for the first time a ceasefire was concluded between the Soviets and the Mujahideen, lasting 6 months, and later extended. Negotiated by Massoud in person with a colonel of the GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
, Anatoly Tkachev, the agreement stipulated that Soviet troops should evacuate the Panjshir, except for a small garrison at Anava, whose access was controlled by the Mujahideen. The area covered by the ceasefire included the Panjshir valley, but not the Salang pass, where fighting continued.
Massoud took advantage of the truce to extend his influence over areas that had until then been held by hostile factions loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is an Afghan Mujahideen leader who is the founder and leader of the Hezb-e Islami political party and paramilitary group. Hekmatyar was a rebel military commander during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan and was one of the key figures in the civil war that followed the...
's Hezb-i-islami party, like in Andarab
Andarab
Andarab is the name of a large stream in Afghanistan and of the valley it empties into.The stream which originates in the Hindu Kush, near Khawak Pass, and flows to the west for about 75 miles before merging into the Surkhab.-Andarab valley:...
. More peacefully, he took control of the Khost-Fereng sector
Khost wa Fereng District
Khost wa Fereng district is the easternmost district of Baghlan province, Afghanistan in the Hindu Kush mountains. Its capital is Khost wa Fereng...
, and some areas in southern Takhar, while establishing contacts with other guerilla groups in Baghlan Province, and persuading them to adopt his military organisation. He also ordered the strengthening of defenses in five subsidiary valleys as well as in the Panjshir, permitting a defense in depth, and withdrew his headquarters to Shira Mandara, in Takhar province, in anticipation of a renewed assault.
Panjshir VII - April 19 to September 1984
In February 1984, Konstantin ChernenkoKonstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko was a Soviet politician and the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He led the Soviet Union from 13 February 1984 until his death thirteen months later, on 10 March 1985...
replaced Yuri Andropov
Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.-Early life:...
as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the title given to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. With some exceptions, the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union...
. While Andropov had supported the ceasefire, Chernenko, a disciple of Brezhnev
Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union , presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in...
, believed that the guerillas should be rooted out through military action, an opinion which he shared with Babrak Karmal
Babrak Karmal
Babrak Karmal was the third President of Afghanistan during the period of the communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He is the best known of the Marxist leadership....
, president of the DRA
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan
The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was a government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992. It was both ideologically close to and economically dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War.- Saur Revolution :...
. As a result a new offensive was planned, which, in Karmal's words, should be decisive and merciless, and in order to destroy the Panjshir valley bases, all those living there should be killed.
However, some Soviets, who were supporters of Andropov, disagreed with this policy, and they gave Massoud advance warning of the attack. Through this channel, and thanks to his agents in the DRA government Massoud had a precise idea of the Soviet plans, and he was able to counter them. To avoid civilian casualties, all 30,000 inhabitants of the Panjshir (from a population of 100,000 before the war) were evacuated to safe areas. Only ambush parties were left to delay the Soviet advance. All the roads, villages and helicopter landing zones were heavily mined. All these preparations were carried out in secret, and a token activity was maintained near the Soviet base at Anava, to deceive the Soviets into believing that a conventional defense was being prepared.
11,000 Soviet and 2,600 Afghan soldiers, under Marshal of the Soviet Union
Marshal of the Soviet Union
Marshal of the Soviet Union was the de facto highest military rank of the Soviet Union. ....
Sergei Sokolov participated in the offensive, supported by 200 airplanes and 190 helicopters. On April 22, after a two-day bombardment of the region by Tu-16, Tu-22M and Su-24
Sukhoi Su-24
The Sukhoi Su-24 is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. This variable-sweep wing, twin-engined two-seater carried the USSR's first integrated digital navigation/attack system...
bombers, they advanced rapidly into the Panjshir. Several battalion strength forces were placed at key passes leading out of the Panjshir valley while at the same time large helicopter troop landings were made in tributary valleys connected to the Panjshir. By blocking the mujahideen's withdrawal routes and securing the high ground, the Soviets forced them higher into the mountains then they had previously ventured and scattered their strength as they attempted to avoid being trapped by the helicopter landings. Once the strength of Massud's forces were dealt such a deadly blow, rather than withdrawing from the valley as they had previously done they began setting up a system of forts and posts throughout the main valley while relinquishing control of the side valleys. These tactics proved more effective at rooting out insurgents and breaking up their fighting forces during the offensive but had limited long term success. The forts and outposts along the Panjshir Valley were unable to protect roads and convoys as well as they had hoped and these installations proved attractive targets for the mujahideen to harass. Much of the valley was occupied, but the Soviets paid a heavy price; many soldiers were killed by mines and in ambushes. During one battle, on April 30 in the Hazara valley, the 1st battalion of the 682nd motorized rifle regiment was decimated: the losses of Soviet troops were estimated at 60 killed.
For the Soviets, the operation was partly successful - some of the infrastructure of the Mujahideen, created in the time of the truce in 1982-1983, was destroyed. Babrak Karmal completed a propaganda visit of the Panjshir, which for some time had become a safe zone. However, it quickly became apparent that most of Massoud's forces had escaped the onslaught, and were still able to carry out their harassment tactics. Eventually, in September, the Soviet-DRA forces once again evacuated the Panjshir valley, leaving occupying forces only in the lower Panjshir.
Panjshir VIII - September 1984
The 8th offensive was a follow-up to the 7th, involving mostly airborne forces.Panjshir IX - 16 June 1985
The 9th offensive was carried out in reprisal for the destruction of the DRA garrison at Peshgur, during which Massoud's mobile groups took 500 prisoners including 126 officers and killed a brigadierBrigadier
Brigadier is a senior military rank, the meaning of which is somewhat different in different military services. The brigadier rank is generally superior to the rank of colonel, and subordinate to major general....
of the Afghan Army.
Initiated hours after the raid, the Soviet counter-attack installed a new garrison in Peshgur, and pursued the retreating Mujahideen. The group escorting the captured Afghan officers was caught in the open by Soviet helicopters, and in the ensuing fight most of the prisoners were killed, with both sides projecting on each other the responsibility for the incident
Aftermath
In 1986, Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
announced his intention of withdrawing the Soviet contingent from Afghanistan. From then on the Soviets were mostly concerned with avoiding losses in the Panjshir sector, and they observed a tacit ceasefire: unprovoked shooting by Soviet troops was forbidden, and the Mujahideen refrained from attacking Soviet bases. Despite provocations ordered by Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai , originally merely Najibullah, was the fourth and last President of the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan. He is also considered the second President of the Republic of Afghanistan.-Early years:Najibullah was born in August 1947 to the Ahmadzai...
s government to draw the Soviets into further fighting, the situation generally remained calm, enabling Massoud to carry out his "strategic offensive", capturing much of Baghlan and Takhar provinces. The last Soviet and Afghan troops present in the lower Panjshir were finally evacuated in June 1988.