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AT THE MAMUR HOTEL

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      by Commander Mohammad Akbar

      (Mohammad Akbar is from the village of Shahi Kale in Mohammad Agha District of LogarProvince. He graduated from high school in the region and joined the resistance in 1979and fought in Logar Province until the collapse of the DRA. He was a member of the Islamic Party (HIH - Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin). [Map sheet 2885, vic grid 1086].)

      A day seldom passed without a clash between the Mujahideen and the Soviets or DRA in Logar Province. In the summer of 1980, my group set an ambush to attack a supply column of Soviet and DRA forces moving from Kabul to Gardez on highway 157. At that time, the populace had not migrated from the area and it was full of people. The Mujahideen had contacts in the government who reported on the movement of columns along the main highway. This was to be our first attack on a major column on this highway following the Soviet invasion. The ambush site was located around the Pul-e Qandahari junction with the main highway. At this point, the Logar River comes within 200 meters of the highway to the east, and the Kuh-e Mohammad Agha hills rise some 700 meters over the highway to the west. Ten kilometers to the south, the road runs through a steep gorge where vehicles cannot easily turn back (Map 1 - Mamur 1). We had 50 Mujahideen armed with Mosin-Nagant carbines, Enfield rifles and two RPG-7s. Our leader, Commander Hayat, divided our men into three groups and put one group in the Bini Sherafghan ruins some 70 meters west of the road. He put the second group to the east of the road around the Mamur Hotel and put the third group to the east in Pul-eQandahari facing the Mohammad Agha High School. Our ambush occupied a two-kilometer stretch. At this time, I was the late Commander Hayat's deputy commander, commanding the Pul-eQandahari positions.

      Commander Hayat ordered that the attack would start when the end of the column reached the Bini Shirafghan ruins. The DRA column came. It had about 100 vehicles carrying food, ammunition and fuel. There were quite a few POL tankers in the column. We let it pass and, as the end of the column reached the ruins, we started to attack at the end of the column. In those days, convoy escort was very weak and air support was insufficient. There was practically no resistance or reaction to our attack from the column. Even the APCs which were escorting the column were passive. We left our positions and started moving up the column, firing as we went, and damaged or destroyed almost all the vehicles. We had no casualties. I don't know how many DRA casualties there were, but we wounded many drivers who the government evacuated later. We left the area promptly after the ambush.

      The area around the Mamur Hotel was ideal for an ambush and we, and other Mujahideen groups, used it often. In September 1981,we set an ambush at the Mamur Hotel and in Pule-e Qandahari facing the high school. The Mamur Hotel group was commanded by the noted HIH commander Doctor Abdul Wali Khayat and the Pule-Qandahari position was commanded by my commander, the late Commander Hayat. There were some 35 Mujahideen armed with AK-47 rifles and three RPG-7s. The ambush site occupied about one kilometer of road-way. When the column arrived, we destroyed twelve trucks and captured three intact. The three trucks were large, heavy-duty, eight-cylinder trucks and they were loaded with beans, rice and military boots. We needed all this gear. We also captured two 76mm field guns and a heavier gun that I don't know the type or caliber. We did not have any Mujahideen casualties.

      In July 1982, the late Doctor Wali Khayat set an ambush near the Mamur Hotel. A Soviet column, moving supplies from Kabul to Gardez, entered the ambush kill zone. During the attack, one Mujahideen fired an RPG-7 at an escorting APC. It hit the APC and a Soviet officer jumped out of the damaged APC and took cover. The officer was wounded. While the fighting was going on, the column sped up and left the ambush area—and left the officer behind. Doctor Abdul Wali Khayat fired at the position where the Soviet officer was. The Soviet officer returned fire with his AK-74. Doctor Khayat fired again and wounded the Soviet officer a second time—this time in the hand. The Soviet officer dropped his AK-74 and took out his pistol. Doctor Khayat threw a hand grenade at the officer and killed him. Then he crossed the road and took his AK-74 and his Makarov pistol. He left the body where it lay and the Mujahideen left the ambush site.

      The next day the Soviets returned in a column from Kabul. They cordoned off the area and searched the houses around Mohammad Agha District headquarters and the town of Kotubkhel. They went house to house looking for their missing officer. HIH commander Sameh Jan was in Kotubkhel at that time He coordinated and organized the actions of all the Mujahideen factions which were caught inthe cordon. There were about 150 Mujahideen caught in the cordon.The Mujahideen began attacking the searching Soviets. They launched sudden, surprise attacks in the close streets and alleys of the villages and in the spaces between the villages. The fighting was often at point-blank range. The fighting began in the morning and continued until the late afternoon (Map 2 - Mamur 2). Soviet casualties are unknown but we think that they were heavy. The Mujahideen captured four AK-74s. Mujahideen casualties were seven KIA including Sameh Jan. Most of the dead Mujahideen had run out of ammunition. The Soviets captured the weapons of the dead Mujahideen including some AK-47s, a Goryunov machine gun, an RPG-7 and a few AK-74s captured from the Soviets in the past. As the Soviets got involved in fighting, they stopped searching. As daylight waned, the Soviets disengaged, took their dead and withdrew back to Kabul. They did find and evacuate the body of their officer who Doctor Khayat killed the day before. It was still lying where he was killed.

VIGNETTE 2: YET ANOTHER AMBUSH AT THE MAMUR HOTEL

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      by Toryalai Hemet

      (Toryalai Hemat was a regimental commander of a Mujahideen Mobile Regiment belonging to the Etehad-e Islami (IUA) faction of Sayyaf. He fought in many provinces in Afghanistan during the war. [Map sheet 2885, vic grid 1086].)

      My mobile regiment fought in many provinces in Afghanistan during the war. One of our battles was in Mohammad Agha District of Logar Province. The Jihad began here attacking columns between Gardez and Kabul. This action occured on 8 July 1986. It was a joint action with the HIH Mujahideen commanded by Doctor Wali Khayat and was reported in the media. It was a small ambush involving 13 Mujahideen armed with two RPG-7s, one PK machinegun and 10 AK-47s. Seven of the Mujahideen were my men and six were HIH. We set the ambush in Kotubkhel near the Mamur Hotel which sits beside the main highway. I split the force into two groups. I put a six-man group on the east side of the road along the Logar River bank. At this point the river is some 40 meters from the road and some two meters lower than the surrounding ground. This site is by the hotel. I put my seven-man group on the west side of the road on high ground. This site is a little further to the south, about 150 meters by the hotel. The high ground is known as Gumbazo Mazogani by the locals. There was an RPG-7 at both sites. We had instructed the group that if the column came from Kabul the furthest group (the western group on the high ground) would fire first to get the column into the kill zone. That would be the river site's signal to fire. We prepared our high ground positions in a ditch which was not visible from the road. It is some 200 meters from the road. We camouflaged our positions well (Map 3 - Mamur 3).

      Our base was three kilometers southeast of Mohamad Agha southof the village of Qala-e Shahi near Ahmadzi Kala. We moved fromAhmadzi Kala at midnight. It took us one hour to reach the ambushsite. I was with the western group. We took our positions in the ditch.At that time, there was fighting in Paktia Province, Jajai District andthe enemy was moving reinforcements to the area. In the morning, areinforcing column came. We opened fire when it reached us and the eastern ambush site opened up as well. We destroyed or damaged two armored vehicles, three jeeps and eight trucks. Some trucks turned back to Kabul and others were abandoned. There were some intact abandoned trucks outside the kill zone. Dead and wounded lay on the ground. Only damaged vehicles were left in the kill zone. We had no casualties. In one of the jeeps we found some movie projectors. We also captured 11 AKs, two pistols and one heavy machine gun (which was mounted on an armored vehicle). We took what we could and split the spoils. HIH got all the projectors. We left and went to Wazir Kala some four kilometers away. Helicopter gunships came and fired at our old positions. Four Soviet helicopters came and took away their dead and wounded.

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