The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in theSoviet-Afghan War

Authors

William C. Green

Abstract

What could be both more poignant and ludicrous than Commander Abdul Baqi Balots’s account of his survival of a firefight in which his closest friend was killed? “I saw a lot of Soviets coming at me and they were all firing (they put ten bullet holes through my baggy trousers).... Habib Noor told me that, un- less we crossed the stream to the north, we would not be able to engage the Soviets. . . . I ran across and jumped but landed directly into the stream. ‘Oh, Al- lah,’ I cried, ‘you have killed me without dignity.’ Then I made a big jump, I don’t know how since even a tank can’t clear it, but I did and got out of the stream.”

Recommended Citation

Green, William C. (2003) "The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in theSoviet-Afghan War," Naval War College Review: Vol. 56: No. 3, Article 15.
Available at: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/nwc-review/vol56/iss3/15