New Soviet offensive

Press, 17 May 1984, Page 20

New Soviet offensive

From ‘The Economist’ London

The Russians are having another go at dislodging the Afghan guerrillas from the strategic Panjshir valley north of Kabul. They have been using some unpleasant new tactics, are employing more troops than ever before, and now hold half the valley; but the battle is by no means over. Starting late in April some 40 TU-16 bombers based inside Russia flew over the 70-mile long valley, bombing it continuously for several days. Fortunately for the local population, the guerrillas had heard reports of the build-up of aircraft on the Russian border and had evacuated most of the villages. About 10,000 Russian troops with 500 tanks and armoured personnel carriers then moved into the valley from the southern end, with another 10,000 men in re serve. There was some sharp fighting

at first, apparently with a lot of casualties on both sides; the Mujahideen then withdrew up the sides oof the valley, and into the small subsidiary valleys which are tricky for tanks to penetrate. The withdrawal hardly amounts to a Russian victory; in each of the previous six (failed) Soviet offensives, the local resistance leader, Mr Ahmed Shah Masoud, used similar tactics. The Russians having reached half-way up the Panjshir, seemed to stop at the point where the valley narrows sharply, which makes it harder for armour to move and the Russian troops easier targets for the Mujaheddin. In the past, Russian and Afghan Governmeent troops have found themselves sitting ducks for Mujahideen raids and after weeks or months of attacks, have withdrawn ungracefully. There are two main reasons for

the Russians’ persistence in the Panjshir. First, it is a base for guerrilla attacks on supply lines between Kabul and Russia. Second, Mr Masoud is a particular irritant because he has done a lot to get the divided Mujaheddin groups to fight together. Nobody quite knows what has happened to Mr Masoud during this offensive. The Russians claim to have captured him, but the rebel leaders in Pakistan, who have not heard from him, insist that he has gone into hiding after an assassination attempt. Either way his difficulties in the Panjshir have brought him a benefit. The Pakistan-based resistance leaders, who have spent much of the war conspiring against one another far from the fighting, have now called on their supporters inside Afghanistan to work together to help Mr Masoud. Copyright, “The Economist.”