Panjshir offensives

Strategic setting

The Panjshir Valley lies about 70 km north of Kabul in the Hindu Kush mountains, close to the Salang Pass, which connects Kabul to northern Afghanistan and onward to Soviet Uzbekistan. After an insurrection led by Ahmad Shah Massoud expelled government forces in June 1979, the valley became a mujahideen stronghold, and Soviet convoys on the Kabul-Khairaton road came under frequent attack. As the Salang Pass became dangerous to cross, the Soviet command moved to dislodge the rebels.

Soviet offensives into the valley had three tactical features: heavy aerial bombardment of a target area, the landing of helicopter-borne troops to cut off enemy withdrawal, and drives by mechanized forces. The tactics caused great destruction among civilians, as crops and livestock were destroyed and inhabitants forced out in an effort to deprive Massoud of the resources to sustain his fighters.

The nine offensives

Between 1980 and 1985 nine offensives were conducted in the valley. The first, in April 1980, involved three Soviet battalions and 1,000 Afghan troops; it advanced up the valley, capturing Bazarak and overrunning Massoud's headquarters at Pasishah-Mardan before the rebels ambushed the withdrawing force. The Soviets claimed heavy rebel casualties, while the mujahideen newspaper put their own losses at four killed.

The fifth offensive of May 1982 was the largest. Under Norat Ter-Grigoryants, 12,000 Soviet and Afghan troops, 320 armoured vehicles, 155 artillery pieces, 104 helicopters and 26 aircraft took part, and 4,200 troops were airlifted into the valley. The Soviets established bases at Rukha, Bazarak and Anava, but their fortified positions controlled only the valley floor while the surrounding heights remained in mujahideen hands. During the fifth and sixth offensives the Soviets suffered up to 3,000 casualties, and 1,000 Afghan Army soldiers defected to the mujahideen.

The seventh offensive, launched on 19 April 1984, was the largest in the region to date. It involved 11,000 Soviet and 2,600 Afghan soldiers under Marshal Sergei Sokolov, supported by bombers and helicopters. Massoud had advance warning, evacuated 30,000 inhabitants, and mined roads, villages and landing zones. The Soviet advance at Rukha was ambushed, and on 30 April the 1st Battalion of the 682nd Motor Rifle Regiment was badly mauled in the Hazara Valley. According to the latest Soviet figures, at least 118 Soviet servicemen were killed in the valley between 14 April and 14 May.

The ninth offensive of 1985 answered Massoud's capture of the Afghan government garrison at Peshgur earlier that year. It began on 16 June, with Soviet forces pushing towards Kijol and Deh-e Mekini, but the valley's hundreds of prepared defensive positions and caves, together with retaliatory attacks on the Salang highway, dragged the fighting out for weeks.

The two truces

In January 1983 the first ceasefire between the Soviets and the mujahideen was concluded, negotiated by Massoud in person with GRU colonel Anatoly Tkachev and lasting six months. Massoud used the truce to extend his influence and strengthen the defences of the valley and five subsidiary valleys, while the 40th Army command judged that the seventh offensive had destroyed the infrastructure he built up during the 1982-1983 truce.

Outcome

The result of every offensive was temporary and partial control of the valley. Soviet bases gave them command of the valley floor only, and after each campaign Massoud rebuilt his forces. The 40th Army command never set itself the goal of complete control of the whole valley, and with the June 1988 withdrawal of the 682nd Motor Rifle Regiment from Rukha and of the Anava garrison, the last Soviet and Afghan troops left the Panjshir Valley.