The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War

On 27 December 1979, Moscow ordered the Soviet Army into Afghanistan. Organized, equipped, and trained for the execution of combined arms operations, that force embodied the concept of blitzkrieg. Nine years later, it withdrew in defeat. The Other Side of the Mountain was written from the reports of mujahideen combat veterans and provides a tactical look at a decentralized army of footmobile guerrillas waging war against a technologically superior foe. Absolute supremacy of firepower did not guarantee victory. Native knowledge of terrain and detailed study of a known adversary offset that advantage. In particular, the chapter on urban combat will be of great interest to commanders concerned with force protection. This book and its companion volume, The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan, published for the United States Marine Corps in 1996, offers a chronicle of the Afghan War by the warfighters.