Unconventional Warfare: The Mujahidin of Afghanistan

Paper Summary:

Resistance "with the proper tools, strategy, and determination" can countermeasure any unwanted entity. This paper shows how the anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan not only pushed the invaders out of their country, but helped precipitate the eventual fall of the USSR as a world power. The paper studies the question: How did the Soviets lose that war, or how did the Mujahidin "the soldiers of God" win?

From the Paper:

"The Afghan resistance fighters, under the guidance of their Islamic mullahs and provincial warlords, devised effective tactics and strategies to engage the large Soviet and pro-Soviet forces: avoid direct combat with a superior force; use the element of surprise; attack more at night; yield a battlefield to the enemy if it means a large result of death for the resistance forces; conduct terror and disinformation campaigns in enemy-held villages. These soldiers of God would conduct successful ambushes through the course of the war. They would attack small convoys through mountainous routes if they were lightly armed; they would attack larger forces within small valley or ravines by destroying lead and aft position vehicles to cause a jam and create confusion and panic as soldiers; they would disguise themselves as pro-Soviet soldiers and conduct disinformation campaigns in local villages to create disorder and add to the confusion amongst the rumor-mill of the local populace; or they would infiltrate fire bases and conduct small raiding parties upon equipment or supplies, destroying what they could quickly, and withdrawing back into the mountains."

More papers on Unconventional Warfare: The Mujahidin of Afghanistan:

• Analytical Essay # 11098 : "The Home Guard and Guerilla Warfare: The Era of the American Civil War"
• Analytical Essay # 145790 : "The Instability of Afghanistan"
• Research Paper # 106906 : "Counter Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare"

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