One of the enemy fighters, who had a pea-colored dress, ran ahead of the others. I took aim at him with great care. Fortunately, the bullet hit the target, and he fell. Others, realizing that they were in danger, immediately hid on the spot.
Author: Taha Panjsheri, the partisan camp of Peshghur (Panjshir), especially for "Sangar"
After we successfully survived the first attack by terrorists, we hid in our own houses for some time, but most of them were in the houses of close relatives and friends. Every day our anxiety grew more than the previous day. One said that the enemy had located you, and the other called and said that the enemy was planning to arrest you. In short, we were in panic and fear every night and every day. No one could be trusted until a few friends and I decided to climb the safe path up the mountains again. The enemy could take us by surprise and we would be captured for nothing.
We climbed the mountain through the Achamon region, as our previous camps were under the control of the enemy. It was possible to set up camp again in the old places. There are many such places in Panjshir. At night, we tried to find things that we had hidden last time. Although the vast majority of our reserves fell into the hands of the enemy, we still managed to find and pull some of them out from under the stones and mud in more distant places and dragged them on ourselves to our new camp located on Helnava. Over time, our reserves dried up. For a whole month, they used mountain green tea with talkhan (mulberry bread).
At that time, the deputy commander (now commander) of the Peshghur camp in the Khoru area, together with the former police chief of the Khoru section (Hessae awwal district, Panjshir province) Muhammadshakir, were in the camp of Turabbas commander in the upper part of the village of Manjdar, in the area called Aghele Anbah. A few days later, he came to our camp with Shakir. Since we had no food, it ran out, a few friends decided to go to the village for supplies to feed themselves somehow.
I, Shakir, and a few other guys, 8 people in total, went down to the village. When we studied the situation, we found that the enemy had blocked all communication routes from the village to the mountain, and at night they were setting up an ambush along the route where we could supply supplies. We stayed in the village for several days when Haji Mohammad Kate, one of the leaders of the camp groups, came down from the mountain. A few days later, the spies and traitors of the area learned of our presence in the village and reported to the Taliban. The enemy began to develop a plan for our detention. The clouds were gathering over us. Again, without food and other necessities, each of us climbed the mountain, taking only talkhan with us. This time we faced many problems, from food to cold in the mountains.
According to an ancient tradition, the inhabitants of Khoru, having received permission from the Taliban, prepared to clean up the Khojai Kalon canal. Just at the beginning of the sunbula month of 1401 (August 2022) on Saturday or Sunday, the locals came to the mountain to clean up the canal, as in previous years. But this year, “milae juy” (canal cleanup festivities) was not the same as in previous years (in the past, “milae juy” was no different from milae Navruz (Navruz festivities). The Taliban initially did not let anyone in. Even after they gave permission to clean the canal, they strictly limited the number of people. Nobody was allowed in more than a certain number. At the same time, on both sides of the canal, they themselves provided security so that none of the resistance fighters would join the local population or these people would not join the resistance. We learned about the situation by talking to Haji Idimuhammad Tariq, the commander of the Peshgur camp. Haji Sahib Tariq said that tomorrow is the day of cleaning the canal, you should be vigilant, and take action. He said: "The Taliban always use civilians in as shields. God forbid that, using them, they come to your camp, which is located at the end of the canal, and find it."
The day before the people came to clean the canal, we buried our camp equipment, such as carpets, tents, and some utensils, under a pile of rocks and mud. If the enemy came, he should not have seen any traces.
During the day we were in the camp tent, and at night we slept outside of it - among the rocks and bushes. After the morning prayer, we began to collect camp things. It was 7 o'clock in the morning when we finished the work and decided to hide behind the canal at a distance of about two kilometers between the rocks. The plan was that when the people had finished their work and left, we would return and rebuild the camp.
Thus, commander Shakhnazar, along with Shakir and Abdulmajid, arrived at the place where we spent the night. At this time, I and the deputy commander of the camp Peshgur Ghulam Dastagir Nabizadeh, and another person named Sadruddin stood on a small hill and observed the situation. Local residents came in groups from the villages.
We were at the end of the canal and watched with binoculars. Suddenly we found armed Taliban among the locals. They were moving at a very high speed and were already about 300 meters below us. Commander Dastagir said that the enemy is rising up under the cover of civilians, and you and I must retreat. He said: “They must not see us, if they see, a fight will start. Civilians may die."
In a hurry, we went up to where the commanders Shakir and Shakhnazar were. As soon as we arrived, the enemy reached our camp. For the sake of the civilians, we made the last effort not to get into a fight with the Taliban. We just watched them. But the Taliban were approaching the place where we were. We had no choice but to fight, and Abdulmajid made the first fire toward the enemy.
Thus, it was 10 o'clock in the morning when our fight began. The enemy was in a better position. Behind us was an impenetrable pass. We were forced to resist. We did not allow the enemy to take a single step forward from the position in which it was. Moment by moment, the enemy's auxiliaries increased one by one. Almost 300 enemy forces were against the six of us. God gave us such strength and ability that 300 terrorists could not take a step forward.
There was a tough fight. The enemy used many types of weapons. We, who did not have any other weapons, except for the Kalashnikov and the five-shot carbine, did not leave the enemy's attacks unanswered. In fierce skirmishes, Dastagir, the deputy commander of the camp received a superficial wound. Just at this time, with the exception of Abdulmajid and Sadruddin, who were above us, the rest took up position behind a big rock. Having established our exact position, the enemy formed a large encirclement ring in order to take us, prisoner. It completely blocked our three flanks. We had only one way - the impassable pass behind us. In short, our battle was to continue until nightfall, which happened, because we had no other choice but to leave the enemy encirclement in the darkness of the night.
At the same time, the enemy fire on us intensified so much that more than a thousand bullets of heavy weapons were fired at us, and in addition to PKs, Kalashnikovs, and American weapons, RPGs were also used, which, fortunately, none of us were hurt by several of its shots.
My firing position was on the left side of the rock and I had to prevent the enemy from advancing there. For a moment, I realized that several enemy forces, which are about 600 meters from me, are trying to bypass my firing position and attack from behind. I ordered the rest of my comrades to hold the right flank, while I myself concentrated completely on the left. One of the enemy fighters, who had a pea-colored dress, ran ahead of the others. I took aim at him with great care. Fortunately, the bullet hit the target, and he fell. Others, realizing that they were in danger, immediately hid in their places. Before dark, when we could leave the battlefield, I did not let them move a single step forward.
When it got dark, we made a collective decision and one by one began to retreat. The others left, and I was the last one out. On the way in the darkness, I stumbled upon the deputy commander of the camp Dastagir, who left a few moments before me. At that moment, the enemy's fire became so intense that even we could not take a step forward. I asked the deputy commander to hide behind the stones, because the enemy's plan was to capture our former positions, and we should stand still until the fire subsides. We did so, and the enemy's fire decreased a little. We continued on our way again. We hurriedly moved along the difficult pass, and the enemy sometimes opened fire along the same path through which we went.
Moving behind large stones, we went to a safe place. At this time, the enemy took our previous positions. The Taliban shouted loudly you were surrounded, surrender. They did not even suspect that the partisans had long since left this place, and there was no one there.
Through difficult and dangerous mountains we reached a place that was far from our fighting position. It was exactly two o'clock in the morning, we were on our way, and suddenly a great light appeared in the air. We looked at the sky as a flare was thrown into our combat position from the air. As soon as it went out, we heard the sound of mortars, which fired at our previous position and the path along which we had escaped. This was done by the enemy because of his losses in this war. In the ten-hour battle, 12 terrorists were destroyed, and our partisans were not injured.
Since we were far away, we were no longer interested in what they were bombing, and we knew that other partisans also left the battlefield before us.
So, under the Taliban, "milae juy" turned into a "bloody festivity" ...
We decided to go to the camp of Commander Turabbas on the slope of Mount Khushkagasht. Finally, it was 8 o'clock in the morning when we arrived there and stayed there for a month. During this month, we twice helped our partisans in the battles in the Shaba camp ...
Resistance continues in the Hindu Kush. Long live the Resistance!
November 29, 2022, Panjshir.
