The Battle for Afghanistan: The Soviets Versus the Mujahideen During the 1980s »

This is the story of the defeat of Soviet Russia's forces by a guerrilla force known as the Mujahideen during the late 80's, originally published in hard back as The Bear Trap. The author, Brigadier Mohammad Yousaf was head of the Afghan Bureau of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence and was effectively the Mujahideen's commander-in-chief. He controlled the flow of thousands of tons of arms across Pakistan and into its occupied neighbour, arms that were bought from the USA with CIA and Saudi Arabian funds.

For a clear understanding of the pitfalls of a major military intervention into one of the World's most primitive and hostile environments, you could do no better than to read The Battle for Afghanistan. It describes in detail the terrain, the training needed and how the Mujahideen carried out ambushes, assassinations, raids and rocket attacks deep inside Afghanistan territory. With British and Coalition forces engaged in heavy fighting in Afghanistan, the lessons in this fascinating book have never been more relevant. There can be few more challenging operational theatres due to the nature of the terrain, the extremes of climate and, most significantly, the resilient fighting qualities of the local tribes people.

Military Symbols used on Maps     viii
Maps     ix
A Note on Sources     x
Publisher's Note     xi
Introduction     1
Prologue     8
Beginnings     20
The Mujahideen     31
The Infidels     44
Another Vietnam     62
The Role of the CIA     78
The Pipeline     97
Training and Tactics     113
Feuding and Fighting     128
Kabul, the Key     142
The Bear Attacks     158
Wonder Weapons - Gunships versus Stingers     174
Bear Baiting     189
The Bear Backs Off     207
Two Disasters     220
Postscript     233
Index     237