12 - Military operations

Summary

The war map

For the Russians there are three Afghanistans: strategic Afghanistan, the Iranian glacis and the areas in which they have no interest. As we know, the resistance has not deployed its troops in line with strategic considerations. Soviet disposition of troops and strategy determines the military activity of the resistance, who only become involved in fighting when Soviet units appear inside their territory. When there are only government troops, a modus vivendi is soon established between the two sides.

Strategic Afghanistan

That part of Afghanistan which is of strategic importance is shaped somewhat like an hour-glass in which the Salang Pass is the neck. It includes the northern plains from Shibergan to Kunduz, the strategic road from Termez to Kabul and from Kabul to Jellalabad, the capital and its immediate environs as far as Logar. It is a rich, well-populated area, which has the only geological resources in the country that could be exploited in the immediate future by the Russians (gas and oil fields at Shibergan and copper mines at Aynak in Logar). This is where the main urban centres are (except for Herat and Kandahar). Finally, it is the main route to India.

The Russians have built two of their three major bases there (Bagram and Kilagay). This is the only region in Afghanistan where they have established a series of small military posts along the road, and most of their troops are concentrated in this area.