World Notes Afghanistan

As an overland link between the Soviet Union and Afghanistan, the Salang Highway is the primary resupply artery for the 115,000 Soviet troops battling mujahedin resistance fighters in Afghanistan. Three and a half years ago, hundreds of Soviet soldiers were said to have perished inside the highway's 1.7-mile-long tunnel through the Hindu Kush mountains, following a collision of vehicles in a military convoy. Last week Western diplomatic sources reported that the same area was the scene of a bloody new calamity for Soviet and Afghanistan government forces.

It took place at Ollang, a hamlet three miles south of the tunnel and 34 miles north of Kabul, the capital, as Soviet and Afghan troops were unloading from a convoy to mount an antiguerrilla operation. According to the reports, a time bomb apparently placed in one of the vehicles by a mujahedin sympathizer exploded, starting a fire that engulfed several tanker trucks. In the ensuing confusion, resistance fighters attacked and reportedly killed some 400 Soviet and Afghan soldiers and destroyed 80 vehicles.