Ali Ahmad Jalali

“ I believe that the raid on my home was in retaliation for this ambush.
That night I had some guests from Laghman and entertained them until late in the evening in my house in the village. In the late evening, I sent most of my men to other villages and kept about 40 at Sayghani (22 of them were residents of the Village) . Sayghani is a village of about 100 homes located off the main road. My home is near the village mosque, protected by several fort-like structures ringing the village (Map 8-1 - Saygháni) . ”

“ What starts as a popular cause, supported enthusi-astically by the populace, can sour when the local populace has to bear the reprisals with no apparent end in sight. The local populace that remains often just wants to be left alone by all sides. The Mujahideenin this area lost a great deal of local support and, consequently, intelli-gence information and early warning.
CHAPTER COMMENTARY Mujahideen local security was often lax in those areas which they controlled or which Soviet/DRA forces had not visited in awhile. ”

“ We put our dead on their animals and took the bodies to their villages for burial. We took our wounded to local doctors for treatment. They helped as best they could, including some of the doctors from the government hospital. ”

“ I had lost contact with my group and so I moved in the opposite direc-tion and slipped out through a house at the edge of the village. The enemy had blocked all streets and escape routes and none of my Mujahideen survived the raid. The enemy killed all 40 Mujahideen and 15 civilians at different locations in the village.
COMMENTARY: Lack of effective security contributed decisively to the Soviet success and led to the destruction of the resistance force. Combat security should protect a unit from surprise attack and
2 Muslims pray five times a day and wash before prayers. ”