Showing The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War by Ali Ahmad Jalali

This book tells the story of the Soviet-Afghan war in the words of the Mujahideen guerrillas themselves. For ten years the Mujahideen fought a military superpower that had invaded their homeland. Outnumbered and outgunned, they used classic guerrilla tactics to gradually wear down and finally defeat the Soviet army. The authors interviewed Mujahideen commanders and fighters, who describe over 100 guerrilla actions, including ambushes, urban combat, hit-and-run raids, rocket attacks, strongpoint sieges, fighting off heliborne assaults, and last-ditch defenses of their hidden mountain bases. Each vignette includes an after-action analysis by the authors, pointing out where each side succeeded or failed in its mission. A final chapter analyzes how a decentralized foot-mobile insurgent force could defeat a modern fully-mechanized army that had overwhelming artillery and air support. There are 89 tactical battle maps, and a glossary of Mujahideen and Soviet Army terminology and map symbols. This is a companion piece to “The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan,” which tells the story from the other side of the war.

Table of Contents:
 • Introduction
 • Foreword
 • Acknowledgements
 • Preface
 • Chapter 1: Ambushes
 • Chapter 2: Raids
 • Chapter 3: Shelling Attacks
 • Chapter 4: Attacking a Strong Point
 • Chapter 5: Mine Warfare
 • Chapter 6: Blocking Enemy Lines of Communication
 • Chapter 7: Siege Warfare
 • Chapter 8: Defending Against Raids
 • Chapter 9: Fighting Heliborne Insertions
 • Chapter 10: Defending Against a Cordon and Search
 • Chapter 11: Defending Base Camps
 • Chapter 12: Counterambushes
 • Chapter 13: Fighting in an Encirclement
 • Chapter 14: Urban Combat
 • Chapter 15: Conclusion
 • Glossary
 • Symbols Library
 • About the Authors