Who are the Mujahideen? Afghan and Syrian Mujahideen. “Dushmans”: the most shocking facts about the enemies of the USSR in Afghanistan

Mujahideen of Afghanistan
Ahmad Shah Masood

Afghan Mujahideen (Arabic: مجاهد‎ mujāhid, mujahiddin) are members of irregular armed forces motivated by radical Islamic ideology, organized into a single rebel force during the period civil war in Afghanistan in 1979-1992. They were recruited from the local population since 1979 with the aim of waging an armed struggle against the military presence of the USSR and the Afghan governments of Babrak Karmal and Najibullah. After the end of the war in the mid-1990s, some of the Afghan Mujahideen joined the ranks of the radical Taliban movement, while others joined the Northern Alliance units.
The word "Mujahid" is of Arabic origin ("Mujahid" plural"Mujahiddin") literally means "fighter for the faith", at the same time being the name of a participant in jihad or rebel (rebel). The Soviet army and the Afghan authorities called them dushmans (Dari دشمان - dušman, dushmon, Pashto دښمان - duxman, dušman - “enemy”), and the Afghans called the Soviet soldiers shuravi (Dari شوروی - šuravî, šuravi - “Soviet”). Soviet soldiers often, in everyday life, used to designate them slang word“spirits” is a derivative of “dushmans”.
The Dushmans wore the same traditional Afghan clothes as the local population, without outwardly standing out from them (shirts, black vests, turbans or pakol).

The main line and basis of the political platform in the propaganda of the Mujahideen ideology was the declaration of the basic principle: “The duty of every Afghan is to protect his homeland - Afghanistan and his faith - holy Islam from the infidels.”
Uniting under the banner of sacred Islam all devout Muslims: “...In the name of Allah, the duty of every devout Muslim is a holy war - Jihad, for this he must go and kill the infidels, only then his soul can enter the gates of heaven.”
Spiritual and political leaders Dushmans (Mujahideen) paid special attention to conducting political propaganda and agitation in the ranks of armed groups and among the local population. Mujahideen political parties and foreign sponsors spent significant amounts of money for these purposes.
In the propaganda struggle for the support of the local population, the Mujahideen won an unconditional victory.
The Mujahideen, as part of solving immediate combat missions, acted as part of groups of various sizes: small mobile detachments, large groups and large formations.
Sometimes, armed formations varying in size, combat capability, equipment and degree of organization, in addition to the main goal of expelling the “shuravi” and overthrowing the current government, pursued their own private and financial interests.
Often internal contradictions between political parties, their leaders and leaders (field commanders), associated with the division of spheres of influence and advantage in the distribution of foreign sponsorship, led to armed clashes between the Mujahideen (dushmans) themselves.
However, despite various contradictions associated common goal The Mujahideen were able to quickly mobilize significant forces and resources, organizing a unified interaction of formations to conduct large-scale combat operations on a wide front, as a single paramilitary association.
Every year, the number of members of the Mujahideen armed forces since the end of 1979, the moment the OKSVA was introduced, has grown exponentially. By the time OKSVA was withdrawn in 1989, it exceeded 250 thousand people.
Throughout the war of 1979-1989, in government circles, in the ranks of the army command, the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the DRA, and among the local population, the Mujahideen had a widely ramified and well-organized intelligence network.
Mujahideen detachments were created along geographic, party, national, confessional, and tribal lines; their actions were coordinated and controlled by the authoritative command of local field commanders and local leaders, which made it possible to act coherently and effectively.
The purpose of conducting an armed struggle between the Mujahideen and OKSVA, state power and the armed forces of the DRA was the withdrawal of Soviet troops and the overthrow of the pro-Soviet government regime in Afghanistan.

Combat tactics are guerrilla. The main principles of managing the combat operations of the Mujahideen were:

Avoidance of direct clashes with superior forces of regular troops;
not turning hostilities into positional warfare,
refusal to consolidate and retain occupied areas for a long time;
surprise attacks with extensive use of Basmachi movement tactics

The armed confrontation was conventionally divided into three stages:

Organized resistance with an inactive form of hostilities, holding individual points and areas, conducting extensive propaganda events among the population and attracting them to their side.
Increasing combat activity through sabotage and terrorist attacks, raids on garrisons and posts of government troops, and attacks on convoys. The main goal is to capture weapons, ammunition and various logistics.
Complete and widespread destruction of the enemy.

The most influential Mujahideen

Ahmad Shah Mosud
Son Dust Muhammadzhan was born in 1953 in the village of Dzhangalak (Bazarak volost, Panjshir district) into the family of a large feudal lord, a career military man (his father, with the rank of colonel, retired in 1976). Tajik by nationality, Sunni Muslim. He graduated from the capital’s theological lyceum “Abu Hanifiya”, studied at Kabul University at the Faculty of Engineering, where he joined the “Muslim Youth” organization, the origins of which were B. Rabbani, G. Hekmatyar, R. Sayaf and others.
In 1973, after a coup d'etat, supporters of the Muslim Youth organized a conspiracy in the army to overthrow the Daoud regime and proclaim the Islamic Republic. The plot was discovered and the participants were executed. A. Shah managed to escape.
In 1974-1975 he takes an active part in the preparation and conduct of the uprising in the village of Bazarak, Panjshir district, which occurred on July 21, 1975, but due to lack of support from the population it was quickly suppressed. Ahmad Shah went into exile (Egypt, Lebanon), where he actively participated in hostilities and terrorist attacks as part of Palestinian combat groups. Studied the experience of conducting guerrilla warfare in the countries of the Middle East, Latin America And South-East Asia. The regime of M. Daoud declared him a war criminal.
In 1978, after the April Revolution, Ahmad Shah returned to Afghanistan and began creating armed units in the Panjshir Gorge. Possessing good organizational and propaganda skills, having theological training (an important factor in a Muslim country), combat experience, skillfully using the nationalist sentiments of the Tajiks and the dogmas of Islam, as well as taking advantage of the personal patronage of B. Rabbani, Ahmad Shah managed to create and lead by the end of 1979 IOA rebel group in Panjshir. At first, according to his own testimony, he had only 20 fighters, but the experience of carrying out terrorist attacks allowed him to quickly destroy the leaders claiming leadership in the area and establish his dominance here. It is no coincidence that Ahmad Shah received the pseudonym Masood, which means “happy.” In addition, he immediately proved to everyone that he is a strong-willed and energetic person who shows persistence and determination in achieving his goals.
By 1981, the number of Masud’s group had reached 2,200 people, and it began to pose a serious danger, mainly on the Kabul-Hairatan communication line in the Jabal-Ussaraj section and in the southern part of the Salang pass. They were supported by local residents.

Turan Ismail
The son of Mohammad Aslam (Ismail Khan) was born in 1947 in the village of Nasrabad, Shindand district, Herat province. Tajik by nationality. Graduated military school"Harbi Puhantong." Until 1979, with the rank of captain (Turan), he commanded a battalion of the 17th Infantry Division. After the Herat rebellion (March 1979), he deserted and led the IOA armed formation in the vicinity of Herat.
appeared general manager armed forces of the IOA in the province of Herat and was considered the second leader of the rebels in Afghanistan after Ahmad Shah.
Married. The family lives in Tayabad (Iran). Secretive and cautious, he often changes the location of his headquarters. Extremely cruel. Personally deals with prisoners. He enjoys authority among the local population, as he prohibits robberies.

Molawi Jalaluddin Khakani
Born in 1935 into the Jadran tribe, Mizi clan. He graduated from a religious school (madrassa) in Pakistan. He received clergy and upon returning to Afghanistan opened a madrasah in the village of Farah, Paktia province. During the reigns of Zahir Shah and M. Daoud, he took an active part in the anti-government activities of the Muslim Brotherhood organization in the province of Paktia.
By nature he is a cruel and uncompromising person. Jalaluddin's armed forces number up to 3 thousand people, located mainly in the area inhabited by the Jadran tribe in the provinces of Paktika and Paktia.

Said Mansour
The son of Said Martez (pseudonym Said Pancho) was born in the province of Parvan in 1955. His nationality is Tajik. He graduated from 12 classes of the lyceum, was a small trader for some time, then entered Kabul University, but completed only two courses. He joined the Islamic Party of Afghanistan in his first year at university. In 1978, G. Hekmatyar was appointed leader of the IPA rebels in Baghlan province. The main area of operation of his gangs is adjacent to the Doshi-Salang highway section.
Shows exceptional cruelty towards people he suspects of loyalty to the ruling regime. Smart, cunning and resourceful. He repeatedly flirted with party and government bodies, pretending that he wanted to start negotiations on cooperation. However, he used the gained time to strengthen gangs and strengthen his authority among the leaders of detachments and groups.
He is careful, constantly changing his places of stay, fearing attacks from opponents. Practices spreading misinformation through his agents regarding his movements. Has personal security of 20 people. The main base areas are located in the Valyan and Bajga gorges (Baghlan province, Khinzhan parish).

Mohammad Bashir
Zergul's son was born in 1951 in Baghlan province. Pashtun by nationality.
Parents died in 1984. Previously worked as a department official Agriculture in Baghlan province. He was a major bandit leader of the IPA in Baghlan. Characterized by caution and cruelty. Personally participates in executions. The actions of his gangs are criminal in nature, the rebels rob and terrorize local residents.

Ustad Farid
Born in 1949. Tajik by nationality. He graduated from Kabul University, worked as a lyceum teacher, then as a school director. While still studying at the university, he became close to Hekmatyar and was a member of the Muslim Youth organization. By nature he is secretive and cunning. He is an implacable enemy of the PDPA and the Kabul authorities. Maintains contact with Hekmatyar and follows only his personal instructions. He is the general leader of the IPA gangs in Kapisa province.

Abdul Khalid Basir
The son of Moulavi Mamad Aslam was born in 1945 in the city of Fayzabad (Badakhshan province) into the family of a clergyman. Tajik by nationality. In 1965 he graduated from the Pamir Lyceum in Fayzabad. During the reign of M. Dauda, he worked as a teacher in Fayzabad and in the Korano-Munjan volost. After April 1978, he initiated the armed struggle in the province of Badakhshan. Basir personally participates in hostilities both against government and Soviet troops, and against gangs of other parties. He strives to expand his zone of influence and get to the lapis lazuli deposits in Jarm district (in this he competes even with Ahmad Shah). During the fighting, he showed himself to be an experienced leader, a cruel and treacherous opponent. His closest circle includes only relatives. Basir's authority rests on the feeling of fear even among his loved ones.
In its activities it relies on the support of local residents of villages located northeast of Fayzabad. The number of his armed detachments is about a thousand people; Basir pays great attention to the engineering equipment of the base sites in the gorges, the arrangement of firing positions, etc.

Said Ali Beheshti
Born in 1930 in the village of Chejchi, Varas district, Bamyan province, in the family of a clergyman. His nationality is Hazara, Shia Muslim. He graduated from a madrasah in Bamiyan, then continued his studies in Najaf (Iraq) under the guidance of Ayatollah Khoya. Upon returning from Iraq, he became active religious activities among the Hazaras and in short period time, with the financial support of the major feudal lord Hazarajat, Vakil Sarwar Khan became one of the famous Shiite religious figures.

Said Mohammed Hasan
The son of Said Mubin (better known by the name Said Jagran) was born in 1925 in the village of Sporephawat, Nuwar district, Ghazni province, into the family of a middle feudal lord. Hazara by nationality. S. Jagran studied at a military lyceum for seven years, graduated from the Kharbi Pukhantun military school in Kabul, and then from the Higher Military Artillery School in the USSR. Last place services - 14th infantry division in Ghazni, military rank lieutenant colonel. Deserted during the reign of X. Amin in 1979. In 1980-1981. conducted active and relatively successful military operations against the DRA Armed Forces.

Mohammed Assef Mohseni
Born in Kandahar in 1925. Hazara by nationality. Received theological education in Najaf. Close to Ayatollah Khomeini. In 1981, at the World Islamic Conference in Pakistan, he was declared the spiritual leader (pir) of the Shiites in Afghanistan. Adheres to a strong pro-Iranian orientation, at one time he had close contact with former president Iran A. Banisadr still maintains close ties with the Iranian clergy, including prominent Iranian religious figures Shariatmadari, Qumi, Shirazi. Works closely with the leaders of Hezbe Allah (Party of Allah).
He firmly stands on the position of the need to wage an armed struggle against the government of the republic, its overthrow, the withdrawal of Soviet troops and the establishment in Afghanistan of an “Islamic republic” regime modeled on Iran. Kandahari and Beheshti are waging a hidden struggle for sole leadership in the SIS organization (Beheshti is a follower of Ayatollah Khoya, and Kandahari is an ardent supporter of Ayatollah Khomeini).

Of course there were others field commanders, many of them came to the forefront after the withdrawal of Soviet troops. In addition to the opposition parties operating in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran, many different organizations were based in other countries and fought against the PDPA.

Afghan Mujahideen (mujahiddin)- members of irregular armed forces motivated by radical Islamic ideology, organized into a single insurgent force during the civil war in Afghanistan in 1979-1992. Formed since 1979 from among the local population with the aim of waging an armed struggle against the intervention of the USSR and the “pro-Soviet government regime” of Babrak Karmal and Najibullah exported by the Soviet Union.

After the end of the war in the mid-1990s, some of the Afghan Mujahideen joined the ranks of the radical Taliban movement, while others joined the Northern Alliance units.

The word "mujahid" is of Arabic origin ("mujahid", plural "mujahiddin", literally meaning "fighter for the faith"), and is also the name of a jihadist or rebel.

Soviet troops and Afghan authorities called them dushmans (enemy), and Afghans called Soviet soldiers shuravi (Soviet). Soviet soldiers also used the slang word “spirit,” a derivative of “dushman.”

The Mujahideen, like the civilian population, wore traditional Afghan clothing (shirts, black vests, turban or pakol).

Ideology

The unification under the banner of sacred Islam of all devout Muslims - “...In the name of the Prophet, the duty of every devout Muslim is a holy war - Jihad, for this he must go and kill the infidels, only then his soul can enter the gates of heaven.”

The spiritual and political leaders of the Mujahideen paid special attention to conducting political propaganda and agitation in the ranks of armed formations and among the local population. Mujahideen political parties and foreign sponsors spent significant amounts of money for these purposes.

It is known that as a result of mass anti-Soviet propaganda by the clergy and opposition leaders, total illiteracy and lack of education of the local population, the overwhelming number of Mujahideen - yesterday's farmers could not have a factual and objective understanding of the intentions of the USSR in Afghanistan and the goals of OKSVA's presence. These circumstances had significant influence to the growth of popular discontent and marked the beginning of a large-scale guerrilla war.

In the propaganda struggle for the support of the local population, the Mujahideen won an unconditional victory.

Every year, the number of members of the armed formations of the Mujahideen since the end of 1979 - the moment the OKSVA was introduced, has grown with impressive geometric progression. By the time OKSVA was withdrawn in 1989, it exceeded 250 thousand militias.

Throughout the war of 1979-1989. in government circles, in the ranks of the army command, the Ministry of State Security, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the DRA, among the local population, the Mujahideen had a widely ramified and well-organized intelligence network.

Target

The purpose of the armed struggle of the Mujahideen against OKSVA, the state authorities and the armed forces of the DRA was the withdrawal of Soviet troops and the overthrow of the “pro-Soviet government regime” in Afghanistan.

Tactics

The tactics of warfare are guerrilla. The main principles of controlling the rebels’ combat operations were:
- avoidance of direct clashes with superior forces of regular troops;
- not turning hostilities into positional warfare;
- refusal to consolidate and retain occupied areas for a long time;
- surprise attacks with extensive use of tactics of the Basmach movement;
- terror and indoctrination of Afghan army personnel and the local population.

Armament

Most of the Mujahideen's weapons were made in China and the USSR.
- BUR rifles (Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield (Lee-Metford.Mk.I,II, Lee-Enfield Mk I, I*)) - ten-shot rifles of caliber 303 inches (7.71x56 mm) made in England 1890-1905 years;
- Kalashnikov assault rifles 7.62 mm produced in China, Egypt, USSR;
- M-16A1 automatic rifles made in the USA;
- automatic machines produced in Germany, Israel, England, Sweden;
- heavy machine guns DShK 12.7 mm caliber made in China;
- hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers RPG-2, RPG-7 made in the USSR, China, "Volsknet" - Switzerland, "Lantse-2" - Germany, "M72A" - USA, "Sarpak" - France, "Piquet" - Israel;
- recoilless rifles of 75 mm and 82 mm caliber made in China, Pakistan and the USA;
- mortars - 60 and 82 mm;
- Chinese PURS;
Air defense systems:
- Anti-aircraft mountain installations ZGU, ZU-25-2, ZU-23-4 produced in China, USSR, Czechoslovakia;
- Anti-aircraft guns of small caliber "Oerlikon";
- Man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems "Strela-2" USSR, China, Egypt, "Red Eye", "Jevelin" - USA, "Blowpipe" - England, "Stinger", "Redeye" - USA;
Various types min, including anti-tank (ATM) and anti-personnel (PM) and landmines;
- Italian mines (TS?1, TS-2.5, TS-1.6, TS-50, SH-55);
- American - M-19, M 18A-1, DSME-S, “Claymore”;
- Swedish - M-102, English MAK-7, as well as Czechoslovak and Soviet production.

Mujahideen leaders

* Allies The most combat-ready parties of the Mujahideen

The Mujahideen were not homogeneous; the units consisted of a large number of small formations, whose commanders often fought not only with Soviet troops, but also with each other. The reason is different national composition (Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Charaimaks, Nuristanis, etc.) and religious composition (Sunnis, Shiites, Ismailis), different sources of sponsorship.

Their largest coalition is the Sunni “Islamic Unity of the Afghan Mujahideen”, created in May 1985, or "Peshawar Seven", which included six Pashtun and one Tajik group (the leader of the Tajik Jamiat-i Islami party, Burhanuddin Rabbani, became the president of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Soviet troops).

There was also a military-political organization of Shiite Mujahideen - "Shiite Eight", based in Iran.

Field commanders

Field commanders- commanders of armed opposition formations of various sizes, permanently based directly on the territory of Afghanistan. They carried out armed opposition to the current official government of the DRA, government troops and the presence of OKSVA. In case of tactical necessity, they came into contact with representatives of the DRA government and concluded temporary agreements on various issues.

There are known cases when field commanders and their troops went over to the side of the people's power. The bulk fought fiercely, under the banners of the “Alliance of Seven” or the “Shiite Eight”. There were also commanders independent of political parties.

The most famous and influential were - Ahmad Shah Masood, whose detachments operated in the Panjshir Gorge and the Charikar Valley, on the strategic Hairaton-Kabul highway in the Salang Pass area. Ismail Khan- controlled the west of the country, Jalaluddin Haqqani, Yunus Khales- East, Said Mansoor, Ustad Farid, Abdul Sayyaf, Abdul Haq, Said Jargan- Center, Mulla Malang, Mulla Naqib- South, Mohammad Bashir, Abdul Basir, Kazi Kabir, Abdul Wahob, Mohammad Wadud- North.

The ranks of the Mujahideen also included people from other countries of the world, especially from Saudi Arabia, contingents from Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and small groups from Morocco, France, and England.

The main zones of military activity were urban areas:

* Kandahar, Lashkar Gah - in the south;
* Alikheil, Urgun, Gardez, Shahjoy - in the southeast;
* Jalalabad, Asadabad, Asmar, Birkot, Surubi - in the east;
* Baghlan, Kunduz, Khanabad, Talukan, Kishim, Faizabad - in the northeast;
* Herat, Farah - in the west; - 5 motorized rifle division
* Panjshir Gorge, Charikar Valley, Paghman - central part of Afghanistan;
* Along the border with Pakistan and Iran there were several large bases and fortified areas of the Mujahideen, which were repeatedly occupied during military operations by Soviet troops during the Afghan War of 1979-1989.
The most famous of these are:
* Jawara - Paktia province.
* Tora Bora - Nangarhar province.
* Kokari-Sharshari - Herat province.

Amine

A year after the April revolution (1978) in Afghanistan, a fierce struggle for power began between the first General Secretary of the PDPA Central Committee, Nur Mohammad Taraki, and the Prime Minister of Afghanistan, Hafizullah Amin. The point of no return was Taraki's conspiracy against Amin, which almost cost the Prime Minister his life. This happened in September 1979. By luring a political opponent to his residence under security guarantees Soviet ambassador Puzanov, the security of the PDPA Secretary General opened heavy fire upon the arriving delegation of Taraki, killing almost all of his bodyguards. The head of government managed to escape, after which, on his orders, the Kabul garrison of General Yaqub took control of the residence of the Secretary General. Despite protests from the Kremlin, on October 9 of the same year, Mohammad Taraki was finished. He was strangled by Captain Abdul Hadud, a man from Amin’s secret police. Moscow clearly did not like this state of affairs, and yet the main argument in favor of eliminating the new Afghan leader was total repressions against Taraki’s supporters and the enemies of “April 1978.” The fact is that Amin was a Maoist to the core and, moreover, a Pashtun nationalist. The mass executions and burying alive of opponents of the revolution, which took place in Afghanistan in the fall and early winter of 1979, clearly harmed the image of socialism.

Islamic guerrillas

Operation Storm, as a result of which Amin was killed, was brilliantly carried out by Soviet special forces. However, the civil strife did not stop, since the confrontation between Amin and Taraki was only part of the civil war that broke out after the April Revolution. The introduction of a limited military contingent of the Soviet Army only added fuel to the fire. According to historians, the Afghans saw in this action a continuation of the Anglo-Afghan wars of the 19th-20th centuries. At first, the Mujahideen fought mainly with outdated Lee-Enfield rifles, but two years later partisan detachments Modern Western weapons began to arrive. Soon, the most combat-ready forces of the Mujahideen concentrated in the two-hundred-kilometer Panjshir valley, which since 1980 has housed the Islamic Society of Afghanistan under the field commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, an intelligent and cruel man. It was he who organized numerous attacks on transport convoys plying along the Hairatan-Kabul road. Afghan partisans managed to inflict significant damage to the supply of units of the 40th Soviet Army and the capital itself. In addition, the Mujahideen were active in the Bagram Valley, regularly shelling the Soviet aviation airfield located there.

Special forces go into battle

Large military operations against militants had only a temporary effect. Two special forces battalions were sent to Afghanistan for targeted combat against partisans. One is from the Central Asian, the second from the Turkestan military districts. In the spring of 1982, special forces were stationed in the village of Rukh and began fighting the Mujahideen. Significant losses from the troops of Ahmad Shah forced the field commander to agree to a truce with the GRU officers of the Soviet Army. It is interesting that the Mujahideen agreed not to touch only Soviet soldiers, reserving the right to attack government troops. However, Ahmad Shah told his subordinates that he was acting according to the laws of jihad, according to which the kafir must be deceived in order to then be killed.

Afghan counter-ambush

After agreements with Dr. Masud, the special forces were sent to another place - to Gulbahar, where they were assigned a wide area of responsibility, which included Kabul, Kapisa, Parwan, Wardak. It was a difficult time for our soldiers, since the Afghan partisans, with the help of American military specialists, mastered the tactics of counter-ambush operations. Getting information about where soviet special forces plans to ambush the caravans, the militants were proactive. Thus, on January 14, 1984, in Sorubi district, militants of the field commander Abdul Haq killed and wounded several dozen soldiers from the Jalalabad GRU battalion.

Mujahideen fighters

Soon conclusions were drawn from bitter experience and the GRU group was strengthened. Between 1984 and 1985, six more special forces battalions arrived in Afghanistan and were stationed along the borders with Iran and Pakistan. The training of fighters has also increased. The command staff mainly consisted of graduates of the Ryazan Airborne School, as well as intelligence faculties of other schools. The GRU leadership chose the only correct practice - it gave officers the right to hunt without unnecessary approval. The result was not long in coming. For example, at the end of 1984, fighters from the Jalalabad battalion ambushed Pashtunistan, which had never been visited by Europeans. As a result, the column of 220 militants was completely destroyed. After 1985, about 20% of all caravans never reached the Mujahideen bases. The partisans had to take every precaution, which reduced the intensity of supplies. Sometimes Soviet special operations led to unexpected results. On September 18, 1985, in one of these battles, soldiers of Senior Lieutenant Krivenko near the village of Tahsildar killed an armed American, Thornton, who ended up in a Mujahideen caravan. Thus, the world learned about the active participation of US citizens on the side of the Islamists.

mission Impossible

Following the results of the Afghan war, the European publication Militarishe Rundschau wrote that “operations carried out by special forces units in many border areas, combined with bombing and mining, destroyed the ability of the Mujahideen to supply weapons by caravans deep into the country with the impunity that they reveled in the first period of the war " At the same time, the level of losses of the Soviet army during the almost ten-year war is considered the highest achievement, taking into account the vast territory and mountainous terrain. According to official data, we're talking about about 15 thousand soldiers and officers who died in that military mission. However, there are also experts who are confident that the Soviet Union could have solved all the tasks set if not for the active assistance to the Islamists from Western powers, primarily the United States.

At the same time being the name of a participant in jihad or rebel (rebel). The Soviet army and Afghan authorities called them dushmans(Dari دشمان - dušman, dushmon, Pashto دښمان - duxman,dušman- “enemy”), or simply rebels, and the Afghans called Soviet soldiers shuravi (Dari شوروی - šuravî, šuravi- “Soviet”) Soviet soldiers often, in everyday life, used the slang word “spirits” - a derivative of “dushmans” - to designate them.
The Dushmans wore the same traditional Afghan clothes as the local population, without outwardly standing out from them (shirts, black vests, turbans or pakol).

Ideology and strategy of the Afghan dushmans (Mujahideen)

Tactics

Anti-aircraft mountain installations ZGU, ZU-25-2, ZU-23-4 produced in China, the USSR, Czechoslovakia;
Small caliber anti-aircraft guns "Oerlikon";
Man-portable anti-aircraft missile systems "Strela-2" - USSR, China, Egypt, "Jevelin", "Blowpipe" - England, "Stinger", "Redeye" - USA;

Italian mines (TS −1, TS-2.5, TS-1.6, TS-50, SH-55);
American - M-19, M 18A-1, DSME-S, “Claymore”;
Swedish - M-102, English MAK-7, as well as Czechoslovak and Soviet production.

Mujahideen leaders

Allies of the Mujahideen

USA represented by the CIA.
Great Britain represented by MI6
UAE, as well as some organizations and individuals in others Arab countries Oh.
Pakistan was a kind of channel for transmitting American aid; its own support was expressed mainly in the provision of space for training camps and camps for Soviet prisoners of war on its territory, as well as the participation of Pakistani instructors in the training of the Mujahideen.
Iran (provided support to the Shia part of the Afghan Mujahideen based in the west of the country along the border with Iran, as well as to detachments of Afghan Mujahideen consisting of Shia Hazaras and Ismaili Hazaras living in the central part of Afghanistan in the provinces of Bamyan and Daikundi, in the province of Baghlan in the north countries).
The PRC supplied the Mujahideen with weapons, supplying them through Pakistan.
Egypt - supplies of weapons to the Mujahideen, financial assistance.

Sources of supply and financing

After the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, the CIA formed a network of training camps and supply bases for the Mujahideen in Pakistan. Subsequently, the main sources of funding for the Mujahideen were:

drug trafficking (thanks to the dushmans who later formed the Northern Alliance, Afghanistan became the world's largest producer of opium and heroin, giving the name to the drug trafficking area - the Golden Crescent);
artisanal gold mining and sale of gold sand;
sponsorship from the USA, UAE, Pakistan, China, Arab countries, Muslim organizations.

The most famous party leaders

The Mujahideen were not homogeneous; the units consisted of a large number of small formations, whose commanders often fought not only with Soviet troops, but also with each other. The reason is different national composition (Pashtuns, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, Charaimaks, Nuristanis and others) and religious (Sunnis, Shiites, Ismailis), different sources of sponsorship.
Their largest coalition was the Sunni Islamic Unity of the Afghan Mujahideen, or the Peshawar Seven, created in May 1985, which included six Pashtun and one Tajik group (the leader of the Tajik Jamiat-e Islami party, Burhanuddin Rabbani, became the president of Afghanistan after the withdrawal of Soviet troops ). There was also a military-political organization of Shiite Mujahideen - the Shiite Eight, based in Iran.

Peshawar Seven - "Alliance of Seven"

"Alliance of Seven", or "Peshawar Seven" - a military-political alliance of the leaders of the Afghan Mujahideen. Established in 1982, headquartered in Peshawar, Pakistan. He was represented by the leaders of various fundamental Islamic parties, predominantly the Pashtun majority of the Sunni branch of Islam. The alliance included four fundamentalist parties, which declared their main goal creation of an Islamic state in Afghanistan.
Afghan society, which is a large number of various social groups, differing from each other by ethnic, religious and other characteristics, living autonomously or in close proximity to other groups, characterized it as very heterogeneous. Therefore, the forces of the Afghan rebels were divided ethnically, geographically, and religiously. Numerous attempts by various resistance groups to unite into a single organized force have failed to eliminate their division into two main groups: Islamic fundamentalists and moderate nationalists. These are:

"Islamic Party of Afghanistan" (IPA). It was headed by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. He enjoyed the special favor of the US CIA and received up to 40% of all American aid to the opposition.
"Islamic Society of Afghanistan" (IOA) under the leadership of Burhanuddin Rabbani.
"Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan" (ILU). The head of this party was Abdul Rasul Sayyaf. ISOA focused mainly on Saudi Arabia and received most of its assistance from it.
"Islamic Party of Afghanistan" Yunus Khales (IPA). Named after the Islamic Party of Afghanistan by Gulbuddin Hetmatyar. Party leader Yunus Khales is the only one of all the G7 leaders who directly participated in the hostilities.

The other three parties of the “seven” were called traditionalist. They advocated returning Afghanistan to pre-revolutionary forms of government. This:

National Islamic Front of Afghanistan (NIFA). It was headed by Said Ahmad Geylani, and the armed forces were commanded by Abdul Rahim Wardak. He enjoyed the greatest influence among Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Considered the most secular and pro-Western of the Mujahideen movements.
National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan (NFSA). The party, led by Sebghatullah Mojaddedi, was small. She took a monarchist position and advocated the return of the former king Zahir Shah to Afghanistan.
"Islamic Revolution Movement of Afghanistan" (DIRA). The leader of this group is Muhammad Nabi Muhammadi, a religious figure. Among the traditionalist parties he was closest to the fundamentalists.

Shia Eight - "Alliance of Eight"

The “Shiite Eight,” more often called the “Alliance of Eight,” included eight parties focused on the Shiite and Ismaili part of the population of Afghan society. All of them enjoyed financial and other support from the Islamic Republic of Iran and its spiritual leaders.
Living in the provinces bordering Iran - Herat, Farah, partially Helmand, Shia Tajiks, Charaimaks, as well as Shia Hazaras and Ismaili Hazaras living in the central part of Afghanistan in the provinces of Bamiyan, Daikundi, Ghor, Uruzgan, Ghazni, Baghlan, Balkh and Samangan. Shiites and Ismailis, not being the majority of the Afghan population, throughout the history of the Afghan state, experienced religious and national discrimination by the majority - Pashtuns and Tajiks.
The formation of the “Alliance of Eight” was appropriate not only from the point of view of the financial independence of the Shiite part of society from the influence of Sunni Pakistan, that is, the Pashtuns who manage the financial flows of the CIA as part of Operation Cyclone, but also an attempt to independently participate in the political division of power in the country. The “Shiite Eight” are eight Shiite parties of the Afghan Mujahideen:

“Hezbe Allah” (Party of Allah), leader Karim Ahmadi “Karim-yak daste” (“Karim is one-armed”), an authoritative Shiite mullah, the party headquarters was located in Mashhad, Iran, party branches - Tehran, Nishapur, Iranian Zabul . Represented in the western and southern provinces of the RA Farah, Nimruz and Kandahar).
“Nasr” (Victory Party) leaders: Sheikh Mohammad Hussein Sadiqi, Sheikh Abdul Ali Mazari, Sheikh Shafaq - the areas of influence of these leaders extend to the traditional places of residence of the Hazaras in the Hazards - Bamiyan, Daykundi, Ghazni, Uruzgan, Ghor, Baghlan and others. Nasr's headquarters were located in Mashhad and Qom, Iran. Represented in the Central Province of the Republic of Armenia, in the Hazarajat region (Bamiyan, Ghazni, Wardak, Uruzgan, Baghlan, Samangan, Balkh, Parvan and Ghor).
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Afghanistan (IRGC) - leader Sheikh Akbari, headquarters were also located in Mashhad and Qom, Iran. Present in the provinces of Ghor and Bamiyan, Balkh, Wardak, Uruzgan.
"Islamic Movement of Afghanistan" (IMA) - leader Sheikh Mohammad Assef Mohseni (Assef Kandahari) headquarters in Qom, Iran. Present in the provinces of Wardak, Bamiyan, Balkh, Helmand, Nimruz.
“Council of Islamic Accord” (SIS) - leaders: Sheikh Said Ali Beheshti, Said Mohammad Hasan (Said Jargan). The headquarters was located in Mashhad, Iran. Present in the provinces of Ghazni and Bamiyan.
"Islamic Revolution Movement" (MIR) - leader Sheikh Nasrullah Mansour. The headquarters was located in Mashhad, Iran. Presented in Herat province.
"Organization of Fighters for Islam" (OBI) - leader Sheikh Mosbah Zadeh, leader of the Hazaras of Bamiyan. Headquarters Mashhad, Iran.
“RAAD Party - “Thunder”” - leaders: Sheikh Seyyid Abdul Jaffar Nadiri, Mohammad Khazaei, Seyd Ismail Balkhi. Headquarters in Mashhad, Iran. Present in the provinces of Balkh and Herat.

The most famous Mujahideen field commanders

An excerpt characterizing the Afghan Mujahideen

“What nonsense sometimes comes to mind! thought Prince Andrey; but the only thing that is true is that this girl is so sweet, so special, that she won’t dance here for a month and get married... This is a rarity here,” he thought when Natasha, straightening the rose that had fallen back from her bodice, sat down next to him.
At the end of the cotillion, the old count approached the dancers in his blue tailcoat. He invited Prince Andrei to his place and asked his daughter if she was having fun? Natasha did not answer and only smiled a smile that reproachfully said: “How could you ask about this?”
- More fun than ever in my life! - she said, and Prince Andrei noticed how quickly her thin arms rose to hug her father and immediately fell. Natasha was as happy as she had never been in her life. She was at that highest level of happiness when a person becomes completely trusting and does not believe in the possibility of evil, misfortune and grief.

At this ball, Pierre for the first time felt insulted by the position that his wife occupied in the highest spheres. He was gloomy and absent-minded. There was a wide crease across his forehead, and he, standing at the window, looked through his glasses, not seeing anyone.
Natasha, heading to dinner, passed him.
Pierre's gloomy, unhappy face struck her. She stopped in front of him. She wanted to help him, to convey to him the excess of her happiness.
“How fun, Count,” she said, “isn’t it?”
Pierre smiled absently, obviously not understanding what was being said to him.
“Yes, I’m very glad,” he said.
“How can they be unhappy with something,” Natasha thought. Especially someone as good as this Bezukhov?” In Natasha’s eyes, everyone who was at the ball was equally kind, sweet, beautiful people loving each other: no one could offend each other, and therefore everyone should be happy.

The next day, Prince Andrei remembered yesterday's ball, but did not dwell on it for long. “Yes, it was a very brilliant ball. And also... yes, Rostova is very nice. There is something fresh, special, not St. Petersburg, that distinguishes her.” That's all he thought about yesterday's ball, and after drinking tea, he sat down to work.
But from fatigue or insomnia (the day was not a good one for studying, and Prince Andrei could not do anything), he kept criticizing his own work, as often happened to him, and was glad when he heard that someone had arrived.
The visitor was Bitsky, who served on various commissions, visited all the societies of St. Petersburg, a passionate admirer of new ideas and Speransky and a concerned messenger of St. Petersburg, one of those people who choose a direction like a dress - according to fashion, but who for this reason seem to be the most ardent partisans of directions . He worriedly, barely having time to take off his hat, ran to Prince Andrei and immediately began to speak. He had just learned the details of the meeting of the State Council this morning, opened by the sovereign, and was talking about it with delight. The sovereign's speech was extraordinary. It was one of those speeches that are made only by constitutional monarchs. “The Emperor directly said that the council and the senate are state estates; he said that government should not be based on arbitrariness, but on solid principles. The Emperor said that finances should be transformed and reports should be made public,” said Bitsky, emphasizing well-known words and significantly opening his eyes.
“Yes, the current event is an era, the greatest era in our history,” he concluded.
Prince Andrei listened to the story about the opening of the State Council, which he expected with such impatience and to which he attributed such importance, and was surprised that this event, now that it had happened, not only did not touch him, but seemed to him more than insignificant. He listened to Bitsky's enthusiastic story with quiet mockery. The most simple thought it occurred to him: “What does it matter to me and Bitsky, what does it matter to us what the sovereign was pleased to say in council! Can all this make me happier and better?”
And this simple reasoning suddenly destroyed for Prince Andrei all the previous interest in the transformations being carried out. On the same day, Prince Andrei was supposed to dine at Speransky’s “en petit comite,” [in a small meeting], as the owner told him, inviting him. This dinner is in the family and friendly circle the man whom he admired so much had previously been of great interest to Prince Andrei, especially since until now he had not seen Speransky in his home life; but now he didn’t want to go.
At the appointed hour of dinner, however, Prince Andrei was already entering Speransky’s own small house near the Tauride Garden. In the parquet dining room of a small house, distinguished by its extraordinary cleanliness (reminiscent of monastic purity), Prince Andrei, who was somewhat late, already found at five o’clock the entire company of this petit comite, Speransky’s intimate acquaintances, gathered. There were no ladies except Speransky's little daughter (with a long face similar to her father) and her governess. The guests were Gervais, Magnitsky and Stolypin. From the hallway, Prince Andrei heard loud voices and clear, clear laughter - laughter similar to the one they laugh on stage. Someone in a voice similar to Speransky’s voice distinctly chimed: ha... ha... ha... Prince Andrei had never heard Speransky’s laughter, and this ringing, subtle laughter of a statesman strangely struck him.
Prince Andrei entered the dining room. The whole company stood between two windows at a small table with snacks. Speransky in a gray tailcoat with a star, obviously in the same white vest and high white tie that he wore at the famous meeting of the State Council, with cheerful face stood at the table. Guests surrounded him. Magnitsky, addressing Mikhail Mikhailovich, told an anecdote. Speransky listened, laughing ahead at what Magnitsky would say. As Prince Andrei entered the room, Magnitsky’s words were again drowned out by laughter. Stolypin boomed loudly, chewing a piece of bread with cheese; Gervais hissed with a quiet laugh, and Speransky laughed subtly, distinctly.
Speransky, still laughing, gave Prince Andrei his white, tender hand.
“I’m very glad to see you, prince,” he said. – Just a minute... he turned to Magnitsky, interrupting his story. “We have an agreement today: dinner of pleasure, and not a word about business.” - And he turned to the narrator again, and laughed again.
Prince Andrei listened to his laughter with surprise and sadness of disappointment and looked at the laughing Speransky. It was not Speransky, but another person, it seemed to Prince Andrei. Everything that had previously seemed mysterious and attractive to Prince Andrei in Speransky suddenly became clear and unattractive to him.
At the table the conversation did not stop for a moment and seemed to consist of a collection of funny anecdotes. Magnitsky had not yet finished his story when someone else declared his readiness to tell something that was even funnier. The anecdotes mostly concerned, if not the official world itself, then the official persons. It seemed that in this society the insignificance of these persons was so finally decided that the only attitude towards them could only be good-naturedly comic. Speransky told how at the council this morning, when asked by a deaf dignitary about his opinion, this dignitary answered that he was of the same opinion. Gervais told a whole story about the audit, remarkable for the nonsense of all the characters. Stolypin stutteringly intervened in the conversation and began to speak passionately about the abuses of the previous order of things, threatening to turn the conversation into a serious one. Magnitsky began to mock Stolypin’s ardor, Gervais inserted a joke and the conversation again took its previous, cheerful direction.
Obviously, after work, Speransky loved to relax and have fun in a circle of friends, and all his guests, understanding his desire, tried to amuse him and have fun themselves. But this fun seemed heavy and sad to Prince Andrei. The thin sound of Speransky’s voice struck him unpleasantly, and the incessant laughter, with its false note, for some reason offended the feelings of Prince Andrei. Prince Andrei did not laugh and was afraid that he would be difficult for this society. But no one noticed his inconsistency with the general mood. Everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun.
Several times he wanted to enter into conversation, but each time his word was thrown out like a cork out of water; and he could not joke with them together.
There was nothing bad or inappropriate in what they said, everything was witty and could have been funny; but something, the very thing that is the essence of fun, not only did not exist, but they did not even know that it existed.
After dinner, Speransky’s daughter and her governess got up. Speransky caressed his daughter with his white hand and kissed her. And this gesture seemed unnatural to Prince Andrei.
The men, in English, remained at the table and drinking port. In the middle of the conversation that began about Napoleon's Spanish affairs, which everyone was of the same opinion approving, Prince Andrei began to contradict them. Speransky smiled and, obviously wanting to divert the conversation from the accepted direction, told an anecdote that had nothing to do with the conversation. For a few moments everyone fell silent.
After sitting at the table, Speransky corked a bottle of wine and said: “Nowadays good wine goes in boots,” gave it to the servant and stood up. Everyone got up and, also talking noisily, went into the living room. Speransky was given two envelopes brought by a courier. He took them and went into the office. As soon as he left, the general fun fell silent and the guests began to talk to each other judiciously and quietly.
- Well, now the recitation! - said Speransky, leaving the office. - Amazing talent! - he turned to Prince Andrei. Magnitsky immediately struck a pose and began to speak French humorous poems that he had composed for some famous people in St. Petersburg, and was interrupted several times by applause. Prince Andrei, at the end of the poems, approached Speransky, saying goodbye to him.
-Where are you going so early? - said Speransky.
- I promised for the evening...
They were silent. Prince Andrei looked closely into those mirrored, impenetrable eyes and it became funny to him how he could expect anything from Speransky and from all his activities associated with him, and how he could attribute importance to what Speransky did. This neat, cheerless laughter did not stop ringing in the ears of Prince Andrei for a long time after he left Speransky.
Returning home, Prince Andrei began to remember his life in St. Petersburg during these four months, as if it were something new. He recalled his efforts, searches, the history of his draft military regulations, which were taken into account and about which they tried to keep silent only because other work, very bad, had already been done and presented to the sovereign; remembered the meetings of the committee of which Berg was a member; I remembered how in these meetings everything related to the form and process of the committee meetings was carefully and lengthily discussed, and how carefully and briefly everything related to the essence of the matter was discussed. He remembered his legislative work, how he anxiously translated articles from the Roman and French codes into Russian, and he felt ashamed of himself. Then he vividly imagined Bogucharovo, his activities in the village, his trip to Ryazan, he remembered the peasants, Drona the headman, and attaching to them the rights of persons, which he distributed in paragraphs, it became surprising to him how he could engage in such idle work for so long.

The next day, Prince Andrei went on visits to some houses where he had not yet been, including the Rostovs, with whom he renewed his acquaintance at the last ball. In addition to the laws of politeness, according to which he needed to be with the Rostovs, Prince Andrei wanted to see at home this special, lively girl, who left him with a pleasant memory.
Natasha was one of the first to meet him. She was wearing a blue home dress, in which she seemed even better to Prince Andrei than in the ball gown. She and the entire Rostov family received Prince Andrei as an old friend, simply and cordially. The entire family, which Prince Andrei had previously judged strictly, now seemed to him to be made up of wonderful, simple and kind people. The hospitality and good nature of the old count, which was especially striking in St. Petersburg, was such that Prince Andrei could not refuse dinner. “Yes, these are kind, nice people,” thought Bolkonsky, who, of course, don’t understand one bit the treasure they have in Natasha; but good people who make up best background so that this especially poetic, overflowing with life, charming girl stands out on it!”
Prince Andrei felt in Natasha the presence of a completely alien to him, special world, filled with some unknown joys, that alien world that even then, in the Otradnensky alley and on the window, on a moonlit night, teased him so much. Now this world no longer teased him, it was no longer an alien world; but he himself, having entered it, found in it a new pleasure for himself.
After dinner, Natasha, at the request of Prince Andrei, went to the clavichord and began to sing. Prince Andrei stood at the window, talking with the ladies, and listened to her. In the middle of the sentence, Prince Andrei fell silent and suddenly felt tears coming to his throat, the possibility of which he did not know within himself. He looked at Natasha singing, and something new and happy happened in his soul. He was happy and at the same time he was sad. He had absolutely nothing to cry about, but he was ready to cry. About what? About former love? About the little princess? About your disappointments?... About your hopes for the future?... Yes and no. The main thing that he wanted to cry about was the terrible opposition he suddenly vividly realized between something infinitely great and indefinable that was in him, and something narrow and corporeal that he himself was and even she was. This opposite tormented and delighted him while she sang.
As soon as Natasha finished singing, she came up to him and asked him how he liked her voice? She asked this and became embarrassed after she said it, realizing that she should not have asked this. He smiled looking at her and said that he liked her singing as much as anything she did.
Prince Andrei left the Rostovs late in the evening. He went to bed out of habit, but soon saw that he could not sleep. He lit a candle and sat in bed, then got up, then lay down again, not at all burdened by insomnia: his soul was so joyful and new, as if he had stepped out of a stuffy room into the free light of God. It never occurred to him that he was in love with Rostova; he didn't think about her; he only imagined her, and as a result his whole life seemed to him in a new light. “What am I fighting for, why am I fussing in this narrow, closed frame, when life, all life with all its joys, is open to me?” he said to himself. And for the first time after a long time, he began to make happy plans for the future. He decided on his own that he needed to start raising his son, finding him a teacher and entrusting him with it; then you have to retire and go abroad, see England, Switzerland, Italy. “I need to use my freedom while I feel so much strength and youth in myself,” he said to himself. Pierre was right when he said that you have to believe in the possibility of happiness in order to be happy, and now I believe in him. Let’s leave the dead to bury the dead, but while you’re alive, you must live and be happy,” he thought.

One morning, Colonel Adolf Berg, whom Pierre knew, as he knew everyone in Moscow and St. Petersburg, in a spick-and-span uniform, with his temples smeared in front, as Emperor Alexander Pavlovich wore, came to see him.
“I was just now with the Countess, your wife, and was so unhappy that my request could not be fulfilled; I hope that with you, Count, I will be happier,” he said, smiling.
-What do you want, Colonel? I am at your service.
“Now, Count, I’m completely settled in my new apartment,” Berg said, obviously knowing that hearing this could not but be pleasant; - and that’s why I wanted to do this, a little evening for my friends and my wife’s acquaintances. (He smiled even more pleasantly.) I wanted to ask the Countess and you to do me the honor of inviting us for a cup of tea and... dinner.
“Only Countess Elena Vasilievna, considering the company of some Bergs humiliating for herself, could have the cruelty to refuse such an invitation. - Berg explained so clearly why he wants to gather a small and good society, and why it will be pleasant for him, and why he spares money for cards and for something bad, but for good society ready to bear the expenses that Pierre could not refuse and promised to do.
- But it’s not too late, Count, if I dare to ask, then at 10 minutes to eight, I dare to ask. We will form a party, our general will be. He is very kind to me. Let's have dinner, Count. So do me a favor.
Contrary to his habit of being late, Pierre that day, instead of eight minutes to ten minutes, arrived at the Bergs at eight minutes to a quarter.
The Bergs, having stocked up what they needed for the evening, were already ready to receive guests.
In a new, clean, bright, decorated with busts and pictures and new furniture, Berg was sitting in the office with his wife. Berg, in a brand new, buttoned uniform, sat next to his wife, explaining to her that it is always possible and should have acquaintances with people who are higher than oneself, because only then can there be a pleasure from making acquaintances. - “If you take something, you can ask for something. Look how I lived from the first ranks (Berg considered his life not as years, but as the highest awards). My comrades are now nothing yet, and I am in the vacancy of a regimental commander, I have the happiness of being your husband (he stood up and kissed Vera’s hand, but on the way to her he turned back the corner of the rolled-up carpet). And how did I acquire all this? The main thing is the ability to choose your acquaintances. It goes without saying that one must be virtuous and careful.”
Berg smiled with the consciousness of his superiority over a weak woman and fell silent, thinking that after all this sweet wife of his was a weak woman who could not comprehend everything that constitutes the dignity of a man - ein Mann zu sein [to be a man]. Vera at the same time also smiled with the consciousness of her superiority over the virtuous, good husband, but who still erroneously, like all men, according to Vera’s concept, understood life. Berg, judging by his wife, considered all women weak and stupid. Vera, judging by her husband alone and spreading this remark, believed that all men attribute intelligence only to themselves, and at the same time they do not understand anything, are proud and selfish.
Berg stood up and, hugging his wife carefully so as not to wrinkle the lace cape for which he had paid dearly, kissed her in the middle of her lips.
“The only thing is that we don’t have children so soon,” he said, out of an unconscious filiation of ideas.
“Yes,” Vera answered, “I don’t want that at all.” We must live for society.
“This is exactly what Princess Yusupova was wearing,” said Berg, with a happy and kind smile, pointing to the cape.
At this time, the arrival of Count Bezukhy was reported. Both spouses looked at each other with a smug smile, each taking credit for the honor of this visit.
“This is what it means to be able to make acquaintances,” thought Berg, this is what it means to be able to hold oneself!
“Just please, when I am entertaining guests,” said Vera, “don’t interrupt me, because I know what to do with everyone, and in what society what should be said.”
Berg smiled too.
“You can’t: sometimes you have to have a man’s conversation with men,” he said.
Pierre was received in a brand new living room, in which it was impossible to sit anywhere without violating the symmetry, cleanliness and order, and therefore it was quite understandable and not strange that Berg generously offered to destroy the symmetry of an armchair or sofa for a dear guest, and apparently being in In this regard, in painful indecision, he proposed a solution to this issue to the choice of the guest. Pierre upset the symmetry by pulling up a chair for himself, and immediately Berg and Vera began the evening, interrupting each other and keeping the guest busy.
Vera, having decided in her mind that Pierre should be occupied with a conversation about the French embassy, immediately began this conversation. Berg, deciding that a man's conversation was also necessary, interrupted his wife's speech, touching on the question of the war with Austria and involuntarily jumped from the general conversation into personal considerations about the proposals that were made to him to participate in the Austrian campaign, and about the reasons why he didn't accept them. Despite the fact that the conversation was very awkward, and that Vera was angry for the interference of the male element, both spouses felt with pleasure that, despite the fact that there was only one guest, the evening had started very well, and that the evening was like two drops of water is like any other evening with conversations, tea and lit candles.
Soon Boris, Berg's old friend, arrived. He treated Berg and Vera with a certain shade of superiority and patronage. The lady and the colonel came for Boris, then the general himself, then the Rostovs, and the evening was absolutely, undoubtedly, like all evenings. Berg and Vera could not hold back a joyful smile at the sight of this movement around the living room, at the sound of this incoherent talking, the rustling of dresses and bows. Everything was like everyone else, the general was especially similar, praising the apartment, patting Berg on the shoulder, and with paternal arbitrariness he ordered the setting up of the Boston table. The general sat down next to Count Ilya Andreich, as if he were the most distinguished of the guests after himself. Old people with old people, young people with young people, the hostess at the tea table, on which there were exactly the same cookies in a silver basket that the Panins had at the evening, everything was exactly the same as the others.

The most popular weapons among the Mujahideen were the English Lee-Enfeld rifles and AK-74/AKM assault rifles. This mujahideen is armed the old fashioned way: a simple, apparently single-shot, bolt-action rifle. He is dressed in traditional Afghan civilian attire: a long untucked shirt, baggy trousers that do not reach his ankles, and the usual brown vest for the Mujahideen. Over his clothes, a blue scarf is wrapped around his chest and waist; he carries his property in a field bag. Shoes - leather sandals made locally. A variety of headdresses were worn on the head - turbans, fur hats and caps.

MUJAHID 1981

The drawing depicts the appearance of a partisan, typical at the beginning of the war. Specialized equipment has not yet begun to reach the Mujahideen. The partisans are wearing ordinary Afghan clothes. The legs and sandals are wrapped to protect against the cold with improvised foot wraps tied with colored cords. The weapon, the Lee-Enfeld Mk.III rifle, is also decorated with colored cords. Probably the rifle is a family heirloom, a trophy kept since the Third Afghan War, but it is possible that a copy of the rifle was made by local rural craftsmen; such cases are known. The patterned leather sword belt is equipped with pockets for equipment. This fighter is most likely a poor shooter; at the beginning of the war, the Afghans did not have enough ammunition to learn accurate fire from rifles and machine guns. In areas where there were no leaders of the rank of Masood or Amin Bardak, the resistance was led by local mullahs or maliks, and relatives and friends united into detachments.

The figure also shows the 12.7 mm DShKM machine gun, nicknamed "Dashika" by the Afghans. Soviet-designed heavy machine guns became the main means of air defense for opposition units. Despite the fact that 12.7 mm bullets did not penetrate the armor of Mi-24 combat helicopters, hits in vulnerable areas not covered by armor more than once led to the death of combat helicopters. DShK machine guns were also used in ambushes, since they could hit infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers. The Mujahideen had 12.7 mm machine guns of both Soviet and Chinese production, including machine guns latest models with a large mechanical sight. The DShK machine gun in the hands of an experienced crew was a very effective weapon.

MUJAHID 1983

The fighting of the Mujahideen from the border Pathan tribe was very effective. Especially after 1983. The picture shows a fighter who was trained under the leadership of Colonel Safi. The Mujahid is wearing a cheap locally made jacket, a loose gray-blue Afghani shirt, which in the province of Paktia could well be considered a camouflage color; on his feet are brown boots. Armament - AKMS assault rifle with a wooden butt painted with flowers. Pay attention to the Chinese-made chest pouch for magazines for a Kalashnikov assault rifle. In the hands of the partisans he holds an 82-mm mine for a Soviet-designed M1937 mortar; these mortars were very popular among the Mujahideen and were perhaps their only heavy weapons. Safi used 82mm mortars to bombard Khost, Urgun and a number of Soviet strongholds in the border areas. The simple and reliable mortar had the only drawback - an insufficient firing range, only 3 km, which is why its crew was at risk of falling under an artillery attack from Soviet or Afghan guns.

Ramatullah Safi

COLONEL RAMATULLA SAFI

Colonel of the Royal Afghan Army, commander of the commando brigade, Ramatullah Safi spent two years in captivity of the Kabul regime. In 1984, he supported the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan, one of the seven mujahideen groups based in Peshawar. Safi trained militants and personally took part in operations in Paktam province. The former colonel's closet is a mixture of Afghan and Western clothing. The headdress is a traditional Afghan “pakhti” hat, but it is dressed in the manner of an English military beret; it is not for nothing that Safi himself trained with British instructors. Ramatullah Safi remained an Anglophile throughout his life. The jacket is locally made, the shirt and trousers are also traditional for Afghans, but for colonels these items of clothing have a more “militaristic” cut than usual. The jacket covers an automatic pistol in a shoulder holster. Safi is also armed with a Chinese-made AK-47 assault rifle, decorated with flags with religious designs.

Hamid Walid

HAMID WALID, WARDAK PROVINCE

Hamid Walid is depicted wearing a Soviet aviation headset. Walid always wore this headset in combat situations. Walid was considered one of the best RPG-7 marksmen in all of Central Afghanistan. On his personal account there are 12 armored vehicles and several trucks. An intellectual, a man of high culture, Walid, like Masoud, was educated at the French Lyceum in Kabul and, like Masoud, spoke fluent French. Waleed fought alongside his high school comrade Amin Bardak, leader of the Mujahideen in Wardak province, until he was killed in an attack on a Soviet convoy near Ghazni on July 23, 1983. In the drawing, Waleed is shown dressed in a traditional Afghan costume, chapati sandals, a knitted sweater and vest. Behind my shoulders, in a locally made backpack, are spare grenades for the RPG-7.

Akhmat Shah Masood

AHMAD SHAH MASUD, PANJSHIR VALLEY

Ahmad Shah Massoud was the most famous leader of the Afghan opposition outside the country. He became famous as an outstanding guerrilla organizer and leader, whose military skill and understanding of tactics modern warfare stood out sharply against the general background. A few words about Ahmad Shah Masood himself. He was born in 1953 in the village of Dzhangalak (Parvan province) in the family of a feudal lord, Tajik by nationality. He graduated from 12 classes at the Nadiriya Lyceum in Kabul (1972) and two courses at the Faculty of Engineering at Kabul University (1974). In the same 1974, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood organization and gained combat experience in other countries. In 1978, he returned to Afghanistan and began creating armed detachments in the Panjshir Gorge. Thus, Ahmad Shah Massoud, having become the head of professional detachments, managed to organize a kind of front.

Masoud is dressed in his usual suit - trousers and jacket from a Western-style uniform, headdress - pukhti, note the traditional Panjshir scarf; on his feet - army-style boots. Western uniforms were not uncommon in Massoud's well-organized and generously supplied troops from abroad. Under his jacket, Ahmad Shah Massoud usually carried a Spanish Star automatic pistol in a shoulder holster. In the picture he is depicted with a captured Kalashnikov AKS-74 assault rifle, equipped with an under-barrel 40-mm BG-15 grenade launcher.

Khalid Akram

DOCTOR KHALID AKRAM

Khalid Akram was interned in Kabul before his escape to Pakistan. He provided medical care Mujahideen. "Dok Khalid" is equipped with both a medical bag with the image of a red crescent (the Muslim equivalent of the red cross) and a 7.62 mm AKMS assault rifle. - the medic needed the machine gun for self-defense. As Khalid joked, his equipment was intended “for a microorganism” (a sanitary bag for the wounded) and “for a macroorganism” (a machine gun for the Soviet Army). Khalid is dressed in the usual clothes for Afghans: a long shirt, wide trousers, chapati sandals and buttermilk hats; An embroidered pakhor blanket is thrown over the shoulder.