Bogged Down in a Frustrating War

A rare glimpse of Soviet forces under guerrilla fire

Virtually forgotten amid the headlines from the Middle East and South Atlantic is a stubborn conflict in Afghanistan, where determined guerrillas continue to resist a 100,000-strong Soviet occupation force. Last month, in the largest operation since their December 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, the Soviets tried to root out the well-disciplined mujahedin of the lush Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul. TIME's William Dowell spent 22 days, disguised in a native tunic and baggy pantaloons, trekking over 16,000-ft. passes with a guerrilla caravan in order to witness the combat. Dowell's report:

Day after day, the ominous whine and then the gray-green shapes of Soviet Mi-8, Mi-24 and Mi-6 helicopters appeared like a horde of bloated locusts over the green fields and mountain streams. The jagged, snow-capped peaks of the Hindu Kush, the mountain chain that rings the valley, muted the roar of the bombing, making it sound like distant thunder.

Against this onslaught were pitted some 2,000 regularly armed Panjshiri and an additional 1,500 to 2,000 guerrillas who had flooded in from neighboring valleys on the promise that they would be issued weapons to aim at the shuravi, the Afghan term for the Soviets. "We were happy when we heard the Soviets were coming," said one guerrilla. "When they were bombing us, there was nothing we could do. Now we have something to shoot at."

As the offensive progressed, the Soviets discovered just how frustrating it can be for a cumbersome, heavily equipped modern army to try to catch up with a smaller, highly motivated and elusive guerrilla foe. They would send in five or six helicopters to circle the area; by the time each helicopter had moved into position, most of the villagers had scurried into shelters. Moreover, many of the bombs failed to detonate, mostly because they ricocheted off mountain rocks. The guerrillas promptly sawed the bombs open, removing the explosives for use as mines. Total casualties after the Soviets dropped 223 bombs on the village of Parandeh: one villager killed, one wounded, and one dead cow.

Three days after the beginning of the Soviet offensive, Soviet and Afghan army tanks tried to enter the valley from Golbahar in the south. First the Afghan tanks charged through a narrow opening. When the Soviets tried to follow, the guerrillas set off charges of dynamite, starting a landslide that isolated the Afghans from the Soviets. Several hundred Afghans defected to the guerrillas' side, bringing nine tanks with them.

When the Soviets resorted to heavy bombing, most of the guerrillas simply slipped away into another valley. I was less than half a mile from the Soviet position at Ab Darrah, surrounded by guerrillas who were in jubilant spirits. From a mountain overlooking the valley, we could clearly see the Soviet camp. It had a triangular perimeter, with six self-propelled howitzers lined up neatly in a row, and next to them eight BM-21 mobile rocket launchers, well known to military experts as Stalin organs.

From another peak about 5,000 ft. above the valley floor, we were able to look down into Khonis, a village in which the Soviets had set up a base. Tanks with huge rollers to predetonate mines were sweeping the main road through the town. Another tank was trying to move a destroyed armored personnel carrier out of the way. Some Soviet soldiers were sitting on a large carpet they had removed from an abandoned home. In the river was the wreckage of two Soviet helicopters that had been shot down earlier in the fighting. From time to time, the Soviets fired machine guns at the hillside. But they did little more than leave a slight ringing in the guerrillas' ears.

The main force behind the Panjshiri guerrillas is former Engineering Student Ahmed Shah, 28, who operates under the name Massoud. The scion of one of Kabul's wealthiest families, Massoud first ran into trouble with authorities for being involved with Islamic groups. He has turned the valley into a virtually autonomous state, with independently functioning schools, finances, food distribution, prisons and security committees. He has managed to capture a sizable quantity of Communist supplies. As a result, all his guerrillas wear regular uniforms--Czechoslovak combat boots, fatigue pants and field jackets--and most are equipped with Soviet AK-47 rifles. Massoud has also set up an extremely effective intelligence organization with the help of a number of Afghan government officials. He regularly receives Soviet reports on rebel effectiveness, and on occasion gets maps showing Soviet battle plans. In February, when a Soviet-Afghan operation seemed on the point of encircling Massoud's forces, sympathetic Afghan officers opened a line of retreat, allowing Massoud to slip back into the valley.

Although they have not other mujahedin, the Soviets have prevented irrigation of the crops, and that could lead to drought and famine later in the year. The Soviets wanted to move a thousand Communist volunteers into the Panjshir to settle the valley, but a convoy carrying the volunteers was ambushed and destroyed.

Meanwhile, the mujahedin have been attacking elsewhere in Afghanistan. A section of the pipeline that takes natural gas from Afghanistan to the Soviet Union was blown up several weeks ago. The latest reports from Kabul say that trucks are still bringing in Soviet bodies for shipment home.

We had hired donkeys to carry our backpacks, but nonetheless had a difficult time reaching the top of the pass that led back out of the Panjshir Valley. As we reached the summit, we saw before us a seemingly unending stream of small guerrilla pack trains, each laden with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, burlap sacks of ammunition, mortars and AK-47s. The horses stumbled as they tried to climb the zigzagging paths.

Each group that passed us smiled, embraced our guide and said, "Mandanaresh" (Do not be tired), the traditional Afghan greeting to travelers. It was as though the Soviet offensive had never occurred.

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