When 39 Soviet Soldiers Took on 250 Afghan Mujahideen… 

The Soviet Afghan war raged for 9 years and is considered a major part of the overarching cold war between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union a major faction in this war was the Afghan mujah hadin the islamist resistance groups that fought against the Soviets and the Republic of Afghanistan backed by the United States the United Kingdom China Iran and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf all of whom had waged war against the Communist Afghan istan Government after it had seized power in 1978 on the back of a

coup the Soviet Afghan war led to the deaths of around 3 million Afghans while refugees fled to Pakistan and Iran as much as 11.5% of Afghanistan’s population was killed during the conflict sometimes referred to as the Soviet Union’s Vietnam in this episode we will explore the battle for Hill 3234 which took place just one year before the end of the the Soviet Afghan war in January of 1988 this battle saw members of the Soviet Union supported by the Republic of Afghanistan attacked by over 200 mujahadin Rebels and Pakistani

mercenaries the resulting conflict would see over 200 mujahadin dead in a single day welcome to Wars of the world [Music] [Music] after the 1978 coup Afghanistan entered a state of near Civil War the country’s new president was murdered by a rival who took over his leadership afterwards the Soviet Union became involved when they deployed members of their military who entered Kabul killed the new president and appointed a Soviet loyalist to take over in November 1987 the Soviet 40th Army began operation

magistral a military operation hatched by the Soviets and the Afghan president Muhammad najiah to take back satu kav pass from the mujahedin the pass was just one of many old Mountainside roadways that had been taken over by Rebel forces during the 1980s and led to the city of coast along the Pakistan border it was the only way by land into the city since it was controlled by the mujahadin it could not be used by the government or by the Soviets who were forced to bring supplies in by air something that was not only costly but also risky as Rebel

forces were now armed with weapons that could take down helicopters and other aircraft operation magistral was put in into place after talks with the mujahadin had failed as did negotiations with the local jadran tribe largely due to the determination of jalaludin hakani the leader of the hakani network who were part of the Rebel forces involved in the conflict reportedly hakani wished to secure Coast as the center of his own independent Afghan State and had no interest in backing down to the Soviets and the communist

government in 2008 it emerged that hakani was also an asset of the CIA receiving tens of millions of dollars in cash for his part in the Soviet Afghan war and was even dubbed by one Congressman Charlie Wilson as goodness personified following the disillusion of negotiations operation magal was put into play the operation involved various units from the Soviet military including the 108th and 201st motor rifle divisions the 345th independent guards Airborne regiment the 56th separate air assault Brigade and the 103rd guards

Airborne Division these units were supported by five infantry divisions and a tank division of the Afghan government the mujahadin were very well kitted out surrounded by minefields and armed with anti-aircraft weapons rocket launchers RPGs and heavy machine guns meaning that any direct attack on their position would effectively be a suicide mission to counteract this on October 28th just a few weeks before they launched their attack the Soviets tossed uniformed mannequins from the air into mujahedin controlled areas allowing a Soviet

reconnaissance aircraft to transmit coordinates of their position to the Air Force in the following 4 hours the mujahedin was subjected to a brutal onslaught of air strikes and artillery assaults the 345th independent guards Airborne regiment described as a veteran unit that had been in all sorts of raids and operations since the beginning of the conflict was ordered to occupy the heights in the southwest of the pass near Sani the 345 set out to Ambush the mujahedin supply routes their assault Swift and aggressive eventually leading

the unit to be spread out across the mountaintops 39 paratroopers of the ninth company who were part of the 345 was subsequently sent to Hill 3234 named for its height in meters Soviet commanders saw the hill as a critical area to be secured and held the ninth company set up camp on the hilltop on December 31st 1987 many of the mujahedin had fled across the Pakistan border following the initial assault in order to regroup and rest strategize however shortly after the Soviets had secured Hill 3234 the mujahedin had started making their way

back to satu kav pass ready to reclaim it to protect themselves from any future Onslaught and because they couldn’t dig trenches because the ground was frozen solid the paratroopers of the ninth company began building waste High walls of dry Stone however they were also acutely aware that they were not prepared for a heavy attack response though they had a single grenade launcher and a few rocket launchers they had only limited fields of fire still the pass was secured at least for the time being and the Gard Coast route was

open for travelers for the first time since 1981 in the following days the paratroopers became the subject of sniper and shell attacks but it was nothing extreme or partially concerning but then on January 7th 1988 around 3:30 p.m. the assault grew worse a barrage of intense weapon fire was sent the Soviets way with hundreds of mortar rounds and Rockets raining down on the paratroopers and their Camp shattering the drystone walls they just built a week earlier around 250 mujah Haden and hundreds of Pakistani Special Forces

Fighters participated in the siege against the Soviets and the Armed Forces forces of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan attacking from three different directions the mujahedin were able to bounce between covers and some even got within 200 M of The Outpost before they were spotted heavy machine gun fire from the paratroopers soon dispatched this particular group of Rebel forces and shortly afterwards a member of the Soviet unit contacted headquarters and requested assistance which they were given in terms of

artillery support ammunition and reinforcements eventually helicopter would arrive to evacuate wounded soldiers at 1610 hours another barrage began things are quietened down after artillery support for the Soviets had taken out some of the muja Haden rocket launchers but it was shortlived the assault came from two different directions and was reportedly a much better planned and coordinated attack than normal the mujah hadin were equipped with walkie-talkies and they waited until the paratroopers ducked away for cover before moving forward as

if they were militarily trained they toss grenades against the remaining dry stone walls leading to the injuries of several Soviet soldiers and before long they were attacking the soviet’s heavy machine gun which was unprotected and stopping the mujahadin from moving forwards the Gunner was finally stopped by shrapnel the third attack came at 1735 hours the mujahadin sprung out from three different directions free to move now that the Gunner had been taken out though the Soviets responded with artillery fire the rebel forces were now

noticeably nearer than they had been before making it difficult to attack them with heavy weapons the mujah hadine demanded that the Soviets give in but they refused less than 2 hours later at 1910 hours the Soviets were still fighting but they were acutely aware that they were running low on resources and did all they could to keep the rebels at Bay even engaging in hand-to-hand combat as the night Drew on the Soviets requested further supplies from their leadership but were told it was too dangerous for helicopters to be sent in

though eventually a unit working further down the valley was ordered by their commanding officer to help it wasn’t easy though given how steep hill 3234 was and how heavy their supplies were their steps were slow and careful the Soviets meanwhile continued to fight back at the mujahedin 2 and 1/ half hours after the backup unit had started its Ascent up hill 3234 it had reached the top the unit helped their fellow soldiers Stave off the remaining attacks by The mujahedin Who despite their efforts were never able to secure the

hilltop or Force the Soviets to surrender of the 39 paratroopers who’d set up camp on Hill 3234 only six were killed in action and 28 were wounded in comparison the exact number of mujahedin killed in the fight is unclear but estimates are around the 200 Mark shortly before operation magistral began the Soviets had planned to remove their forces from Afghanistan they had reportedly never planned to stay in the country for long but had offered to support its government as it adjusted to communist leadership the Soviets also

wanted to flatten Rebel forces until Afghanistan was able to fend for itself however little effort was made to deal with the source of the problem so Rebels continued to emerge no matter how many of the muah hadine were slaughtered the Soviet Union began withdrawing from Afghanistan between May 1988 8 and February 1989 which would eventually mean that the battle for Hill 3234 was all in vain though operation magistral was deemed a success satu Kanda pass did not remain open for long just a few weeks after the

Soviets had secured it they withdrew their forces and the Afghan Army succumbed to attacks by the mujah hadin by late January 1988 just weeks after the battle the mujahadin had recaptured the area