Battle of Jalalabad (1989)

Battle of Jalalabad
Part of Afghan Civil War (1989–1992)
Date 5 March – end of June 1989 [1] Location Jalalabad, Afghanistan Result Afghan government victory [2] Hamid Gul sacked as head of the ISI CIA takes on a more direct role Gulbuddin Hekmatyar drops support for the "Afghan Interim Government" Battle won without Soviet involvement
Belligerents
Republic of Afghanistan Supported by:   Soviet Union	Pakistan [3] [4] [5] ISI Afghan Interim Government: [6] [7] [8] Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin Jamiat-e Islami National Islamic Front of Afghanistan Ittehad-e Islami Al Qaeda (Arab Foreign Fighters) Supported by:  United States CIA
Commanders and leaders
Mohammad Najibullah Shahnawaz Tanai [7] Nur ul-Haq Ulumi General Barakzai   † Mohammad Sardar Bajauri Khushal Peroz Abdul Rashid Dostum General Mohammad Ehsan	Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Burhanuddin Rabbani Ahmad Shah Masoud Ahmed Gailani Abdul Rasul Sayyaf Osama bin Laden Ibn al-Khattab Hamid Gul [9] [10] [11] Mirza Aslam Beg [12] Commander Nasir Khan [7]
Units involved
Afghan Army [7] 9th Infantry Division 55th Motorized Infantry Brigade 10th Engineer-Sapper Regiment 11th Infantry Division 66th Motorized Infantry Brigades 71st Motorized Infantry Brigades 81st Motorized Infantry Brigade 11th Tactical Ballistic Missile Battalion 91st Artillery Regiment Unknown Mechanized battalion Unknown Howitzer battalion 99th Missile Brigade Ministry of Interior: [7] 7th Operative Regiment (Sarandoy) 12th Mountain Battalion (Sarandoy) 8th Border Guard Brigade 10th Border Guard Brigade WAD: 904th Battalion Afghan National Guard: [7] 1st Motorized Infantry Brigade 37th Commando Brigade 88th Heavy Artillery Regiment Afghan Air Force: [5] 355th Fighter-Bomber Aviation Regiment 377th Helicopter Regiment 373rd Air Transport Regiment 12th Squadron Revolution Defense Groups [7]	Pakistan : Khyber Rifles (alleged by Kabul) [7] Pakistani Mercenaries Interim Afghan Government: Hezb-I-Islami Gulbuddin: 5 battalions including a mechanized battalion (during the First Battle of Jalalabad Airport) [7]
Strength
Democratic Republic of Afghanistan: 15,000 soldiers.	Hezb-I-Islami Gulbuddin: [7] 3,300 soldiers. 11 T-54Ms 3 BMPs 2 BTR-60PB 2 BRDM-2 55 mortars 12 howitzers 79 rocket launchers Hezb-i Islami Khalis: [7] 500 soldiers. Jamiat-e Islami: [7] 500 soldiers. National Islamic Front of Afghanistan: [7] 1,700 soldiers. Ittihad-i Islami: [7] 1,300 soldiers. Al Qaeda: [7] 1,300 soldiers. Jabha-i-Nejat-i-Melli: 1,300 soldiers. Harakat-i-Enqelab-i-Islami: 1,500 soldiers. Pakistan: 5,000 soldiers. [13] Total Estimate: 14,000
Casualties and losses
Republic Of Afghanistan 3,000 killed [5] 1 Antonov An-26 transport plane destroyed 2 airport employees killed	Afghan Interim Government: 5,000–10,000 killed [3] [14] Heavy losses of armor [7] Al Qaeda: hundreds killed Pakistan: 1 killed, 1 captured
Civilian casualties: 12,000–15,000 killed

The Battle of Jalalabad, also known as Operation Jalalabad ^[15] or the Jalalabad War, occurred in the spring of 1989. It involved the Seven-Party (Afghanistan mujahideen) Union based in Peshawar, also known as the Afghan Interim Government or the "Government in exile", ^{[1] [16]} supported by the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, attacked Jalalabad. ^{[1] [9]} The ISI's Director Gul wanted to see a mujahideen government over Afghanistan, ^[9] led by Hekmatyar. ^{[10] [6]}

Analysts disagree as to whether Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was totally kept in the dark about the ISI's plan to overturn Afghanistan ^[9] or was one of the instigators of this attack. ^[10] One analyst stated that also United States Ambassador to Pakistan Robert B. Oakley was exhortating^{[ clarification needed ]} this mujahideen attack. ^[10]

The Americans reportedly were motivated by their wish to humiliate the Marxists and send them out of Afghanistan "clinging to their helicopters", thus avenge the fall of South Vietnam; Pakistan wished to establish a friendly government in Kabul that would not back Baloch and Pashtun separatists in western Pakistan. ^[17] The plan was for Jamiat-e Islami to close the Salang Pass, paralyzing the Afghan Government's supply lines. ^{[18] [19]} The plan was to establish an interim government in Jalalabad which would be recognized by western nations as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. ^[18]

Battle begins

Involved in the operation were forces of Hekmatyar's Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf's Ittehad-e Islami and Arab fighters, totalling 14,000 men. The attack began on March 5, 1989, and went well at first for the mujahideen, who captured the Jalalabad airfield before being counterattacked. ^{[20] : 138} When government troops started to surrender, the attacking forces were soon blocked by the main Afghan army positions held by the 11th Division, that were protected by bunkers, barbed wire and minefields. The government troops could count on intensive air support, as the Afghan air force flew 20 sorties a day over the battlefield. An-12 transport aircraft, modified to carry bombs, flew at high altitude out of range of the Stinger missiles used by the mujahideen; cluster bombs were used intensively. ^{[20] : 139} Three Scud firing batteries, deployed around Kabul, the 99th Missile Brigade fired more than 400 missiles in support of the Jalalabad garrison. ^{[21] [22]}

Despite their imprecision, these weapons had a severe effect on the morale of the mujahedeen, who could do nothing to prevent them. ^{[23] [24]} The Battle of Jalalabad is considered to be the most concentrated ballistic missile campaign since the V2 Attacks on London in the Second World War. ^{[21] [22] [24]}

By the middle of May, the mujahideen had made no headway against the defences of Jalalabad, and were running low on ammunition. In July, they were unable to prevent the Afghan Army from recapturing the army base in Samarkhel, Jalalabad was still firmly in the hands of Najibullah's government. The mujahideen suffered an estimated 3,000 casualties during this battle. Arab foreign fighters sustaining over 300 casualties. ^[25] An estimated 12,000–15,000 civilians were killed, while 10,000 had fled the fighting. ^[26] The Afghan Army suffered around 1,500 casualties during the battle. ^[27]

Aftermath

Contrary to American and Pakistani expectations, this battle proved that the Afghan Army could fight without Soviet help, and greatly increased the confidence of government supporters. Conversely, the morale of the mujahideen involved in the attack slumped and many local commanders of Hekmatyar and Sayyaf concluded truces with the government. ^[28] The failure of the Battle can be attributed to the failure of Ahmad Shah Masoud's forces to close the Salang Pass allowing Kabul to supply their forces. ^[18] In the words of Brigadier-General Mohammed Yousaf, an officer of the ISI, "the jihad never recovered from Jalalabad". ^[23] In particular of course Pakistan's plans to promote Hekmatyar were also harmed. Both the Pakistani and the American governments were frustrated with the outcome. As a result of this failure, General Hamid Gul was immediately sacked by Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, and replaced with General Shamsur Rahman Kallu as the Director-General of the ISI. Kallu pursued a more classical policy of support to the Afghan guerillas. ^[23] In this respect he cut off the barrier that his predecessors, Akhtar Abdur Rahman and Gul had placed between the mujahideen and the American secret service, which for the first time had direct access to the mujahedeen. The former Pakistani spies, such as Gul, had argued that this gave the United States an opportunity to both undercut Pakistan's interests as well as to weave discord among the mujahideen (something which Pakistan's promotion of Hekmatyar had of course done as well).^{[ citation needed ]}

Indeed, with direct American access to the mujahideen – in particular that of the envoy Peter Tomsen, whose attitude towards independent Afghans was arrogant and arguably hostile in that he deemed them dangerous extremists without direct US supervision – any segment of mujahideen unity crumbled. Traditionally independent mujahideen leaders, such as Yunus Khalis, Jalaluddin Haqqani, who had tried to unite the mujahideen rivals Massoud and Hekmatyar, now moved closer towards Pakistan because of their suspicion of the United States' intentions. (See also Haqqani network). Others, like Abdul Haq and Massoud, instead favoured the United States because of their tense relations with Pakistan. While Abdul Haq remained hostile towards the communist government and its militias, Massoud would go on to make controversial alliances with former communist figures. Massoud claimed that this was an attempt to unite Afghanistan, but his enemies such as Hekmatyar attacked him for this. Hekmatyar's push were also supported by Pakistan, so that by 1990 there was a definite (if loose) pair of competing axes – one promoted by Pakistan and including Hekmatyar, but also other mujahidin leaders such as Khalis, Jalaluddin Haqqani and other mujahedeen leaders who were unsympathetic to Hekmatyar – and the other promoted by the United States and led by Massoud, but also including other leaders such as Abdul Haq who were unsympathetic to Massoud.^{[ citation needed ]} The government forces further proved their worth in April 1990, during an offensive against a fortified complex at Paghman. After a heavy bombardment and an assault that lasted until the end of June, the Afghan Army, spearheaded by Dostum's militia, was able to clear the mujahedeen entrenchments. ^[25]

Criticism

Afghanistan

The Jalalabad operation was seen as a grave mistake by some mujahedeen leaders such as Ahmad Shah Massoud and Abdul Haq, who did not believe the mujahedeen had the capacity to capture a major city in conventional warfare. ^[29]

Neither Massoud nor Haq claimed to have participated in the attack on Jalalabad. Massoud even said it was by BBC radio that he learned about the operation. ^[30] This is contradictory however as Masoud's party, Jamiat-e Islami committed 500 men to the Battle ^[31] and it has been stated Massoud was tasked with closing the Salang Pass which he failed to do thus leading to the failure to take Jalalabad. ^[32] Haq advocated the pursuit of coordinated guerilla warfare, that would gradually weaken the communist regime and cause its collapse through internal divisions.

Abdul Haq was also quoted as asking: "How is that we Afghans, who never lost a war, must take military instructions from the Pakistanis, who never won one?" ^[26] Ahmad Shah Massoud criticized the go-it-alone attitude of Pakistan and their Afghan followers stating: "The damage caused by our (Mujahideen forces) lack of a unified command is obvious. There is a total lack of coordination, which means we are not launching simultaneous offensives on different fronts. As a result, the government can concentrate its resources and pick us off one by one. And that is what has happened at Jalalabad." ^[30]

Pakistan

Former Pakistani Minister of Interior Aitzaz Ahsan claimed that the civilian government knew about the "Jalalabad Operation" beforehand and opposed Hamid Gul's proposal but let the operation happen anyway. ^[33]

Foreign fighters

Jihad magazine, an Arabic propaganda magazine known for glorifying the achievements of the Arab foreign fighters in Afghanistan, could not downplay the disastrous defeat at Jalalabad. In its report of the battle, the magazine reported the Afghan communist forces had rained down Scud missiles with two thousand-pound warheads on the Arab fighters resulting in the slaughter of more than a hundred Arab fighters, and that each fallen warrior was soon followed by another rocket taking down another jihadist. In the account of the battle by Osama bin Laden, the founder of Al-Qaeda, bin Laden claimed that the defeat at Jalalabad had inflicted greater casualties on the Arab fighters than they had sustained in the entire war against the Soviets. ^[34]

The defeat in Jalalabad led to internal squabbles between Al-Qaeda and Maktab al-Khidamat. Ayman al-Zawahiri turned Osama bin Laden against Abdullah Yusuf Azzam, accusing him of mishandling the MAK. Zawahiri accused Azzam of being a puppet of the United States and the Saudi Arabian monarchy. He distributed leaflets in Peshawar, depicting Azzam as a questionable Muslim and advising Arabs not to pray with him. Azzam was later killed by a bomb in November of the same year. While the identity of Azzam's killer remains uncertain, it is possible that it was the work of Al-Qaeda or al-Jihad affiliated jihadists operating in Pakistan, although bin Laden himself is unlikely to have been involved, as he was in Saudi Arabia at the time of the murder and still on (relatively) good terms with Azzam. ^[35] The assassination of Azzam has also been attributed to KhAD. ^[36]

Further reading

• What Happened in Jalalabad
• AFGHANISTAN REBELS LOSE KEY BATTLE
• Rebels Without a Cause

References

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4. "AFGHANISTAN REBELS LOSE KEY BATTLE". Washington Post. 8 July 1989. Retrieved 20 December 2019. It also is a setback to the U.S.-Pakistani policy that supports the guerrillas in their fight against the Kabul government of President Najibullah.
5. "The Lessons Of Jalalabad; Afghan Guerrillas See Weaknesses Exposed". New York Times. 13 April 1989. Casualties have been high on both sides. Government troops have been reduced by heavy guerrilla shelling and rocketing from 12,000 to 9,000, Western diplomats say....The Afghan Air Force is said to be taking advantage of the fact that, probably for the first time in the war, guerrilla forces are concentrated in static positions, which make them easier bombing targets.
6. Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld | Afghanistan: The Forgotten War: Human Rights Abuses and Violations of the Laws of War Since the Soviet Withdrawal". Refworld. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
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9. Nasir, Abbas (18 August 2015). "The legacy of Pakistan's loved and loathed Hamid Gul". Al-Jazeera. Retrieved 4 January 2017. His commitment to jihad – to an Islamic revolution transcending national boundaries, was such that he dreamed one day the "green Islamic flag" would flutter not just over Pakistan and Afghanistan, but also over territories represented by the (former Soviet Union) Central Asian republics. After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, as the director-general of the Pakistan's intelligence organisation, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) directorate, an impatient Gul wanted to establish a government of the so-called Mujahideen on Afghan soil. He then ordered an assault using non-state actors on Jalalabad, the first major urban centre across the Khyber Pass from Pakistan, with the aim capturing it and declaring it as the seat of the new administration. This was the spring of 1989 and a furious prime minister, Benazir Bhutto – who was kept in the dark by ... Gul and ... Mirza Aslam Beg – demanded that Gul be removed from the ISI.
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