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Draft:1986 Miran Shah incident

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  • Comment: Fails WP:GNG as well WP:NEVENTS which says an event is presumed to be notable if it has lasting major consequences! —Saqib (talk I contribs) 16:10, 3 June 2024 (UTC)
  • Comment: The reviewer should check the history. The draft was moved by the creator to the main NS without approval, and then I moved it back to the draft NS. —Saqib (talk I contribs) 14:40, 8 May 2024 (UTC)
1986 Miram Shah incident
Part of the Soviet-Pakistani air confrontations, Second Battle of Zhawar, Soviet–Afghan War and Operation Cyclone
Date2nd April 1986
Location
Miram Shah
Result

Mujahideen partial victory

Belligerents
Soviet Union Soviet Union
Afghanistan Afghanistan

Haqqani Network

Pakistan Pakistan
Units involved

 Soviet Air Forces
Afghanistan Afghan Army

  • 37th Commando Brigade
  • 38th Commando Brigade  Surrendered
  • 666th "Air Assault" Commando Regiment
  • 203rd Special Reconnaissance Battalion
  • 11th Infantry Division
  • 12th Infantry Division
  • 14th Infantry Division
  • 15th Infantry Division
  • 18th Infantry Division
  • 21st Mechanised Infantry Brigade

Haqqani network

  • Kochi mujahideen
  • Gorbez mujahideen

 Pakistan Army

Casualties and losses

Afghanistan Afghanistan

  • 6 Mi-8 captured[2]
  • 120+ captured[2]
  • 1 aircraft destroyed

Haqqani network

  • Hundreds killed and wounded

 Pakistan

  • 2 wounded

The 1986 Miran Shah incident refers to an accidental intrusion of Pakistani territory by the 38th Commando Brigade of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan during the Second Battle of Zhawar. The strike force, constituting 120 personnel and six helicopters, accidentally landed near Miran Shah, Pakistan instead of Zhawar due to poor visibility in the darkness of night. This force was surrounded and taken prisoner, with only 24 escapees.[3]

Background

[edit]

The Second Battle of Zhawar was a significant engagement that took place during the Soviet-Afghan War. It pitted Afghan Army units, supported by the Soviet Union, against mujahideen faction led by Jalaluddin Haqqani.[4][5][3] The objective of the battle was to destroy the mujahideen's logistical base located in Zhawar, just three kilometers from the Durand Line.[5][4][3][6]

The initial offensive, known as the First Battle of Zhawar, and was launched in September 1985. DRA divisions, with air support from the Soviet Union, initiated the attack while major mujahideen commanders were absent, including Haqqani who was on pilgrimage to Mecca. The DRA forces advanced from Khost and successfully captured the village of Bori, northeast of Zhawar. However, they encountered fierce resistance and were forced to retreat.[4][5][6]

The main attack began on September 4 and initially achieved success, with the capture of the village of Lezhi and the killing of a mujahideen commander. However, the offensive was halted at the heavily fortified Manay Kandow pass, where the mujahideen put up a strong defense.[4][5][3][6]

Incident

[edit]

On 2 April 1986, the DRA launched artillery strikes and aerial bombardment on Zhawar cave network.[7][8][9] Then six Mi-8 carrying 120 troops of the 38th Commando Brigade took off from Khost airfield, with the aim of landing at the designated point near Zhawar.[7][8][9] The commandos successfully landed facing no resistance,[7][8] but the ground assault had to encounter fierce resistance from Mujahideen forces present at the Dawri Gar mountain.[4][9][5][10] The ground offensive was forced to stop as they were encountering heavy losses[7][8][9] The command post for the operation was shifted from Khost to Tani and contacted the aerial assault group. The commander of the assault group reported that they could see the battle taking place far away from their location.[7] It was now 3 in the morning. The Afghan government artillery fired an flare on the Dawri Gar mountain. The command station asked the assault group commander that "Do you see the round?" and they replied that the location was about 15 kilometers from their location.[8][9] The Afghan government artillery again fired another flare five kilometers south. Again the commander was asked that whether he could see the flare. He replied that it was about ten kilometers from their location. Command post informed the assault group that they had crossed the border and landed five kilometers inside Pakistan near Miran Shah.[11][12][4][5] Soon the strike group began withdrawal preparations.[7][8][9]

Mujahideen and Pakistani response

[edit]

Following the air assault, the Soviet Air Forces bombed Mujahideen positions. The Mujahideen then attacked the landing zones of 38th Commando, overrunning four of them and capturing 530 commandos.[7][13][6] A single group of Afghan commandos managed to hold out against the mujahideen for three days before being finally overrun.[13][6] All six Mi-8 helicopters and all 120 commandos were captured. Hundreds of Special Service Group personnel were deployed to Zhawar.[1] Pakistani officers were additionally sent to Zhawar and attempted to take down Afghan and Soviet aircraft with English blowpipes to no avail, as one Pakistani officer and his NCO were injured as a result of the aerial bombardment.[6][13][7] Jalaluddin Haqqani tried and executed Colonel Qalandar Shah alongside 78 other officers who were forced to "confess their crimes" from different operations and then executed. However, regular soldiers were given amnesty as they were conscripts and were ordered to complete two years of labour if they wanted to be fully amnestied.[7][13] After sustaining heavy casualties, the commando brigades were converted into battalions.[7][6][8][9][10]

Aircraft shootdown

[edit]

To bomb Mujahideen bases, the Soviet planes began flying over Pakistani airspace. In response, the Pakistani Army sent a small number of soldiers with blowpipe missiles to shoot down any enemy aircraft flying overhead.[7][10] They fired a total of 14 surface-to-air missiles on Soviet aircraft. Moreover, Soviet air strikes on Pakistani forces wounded two Pakistani soldiers.[7][3][6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Riedel, Bruce (28 July 2014). WHAT WE WON! AMERICA'S SECRET WAR IN AFGHANISTAN. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 978-0-8157-2585-5.
  2. ^ a b "Campaign for the caves of Zhawar" (PDF).
  3. ^ a b c d e Jalali, Ali Ahmad (March 17, 2017). A Military History of Afghanistan: From the Great Game to the Global War on Terror. University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-2407-2 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Wilcox, Vanessa. "LibGuides: 2nd Battle of Zhawar (1979-1989): Home". novosel.libguides.com.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Bock, Jon (September 15, 2023). "How This Subterranean Logistics Base in Afghanistan Bedeviled Soviet Invaders". HistoryNet.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h Jalali, Ali Ahmad; Grau, Lester W. (May 5, 1999). "The Other Side of the Mountain: Mujahideen Tactics in the Soviet-Afghan War". U.S. Marine Corps, Studies and Analysis Division – via Google Books.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "The campaign for the caves" (PDF).
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Grau, Lester W. (March 5, 2004). "The Soviet–Afghan War: A Superpower Mired in the Mountains". The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. 17 (1): 129–151. doi:10.1080/13518040490440692 – via CrossRef.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g Riedel, Bruce (July 28, 2014). What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979 89. Brookings Institution Press. ISBN 978-0-8157-2585-5 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ a b c Westermann, Edward. "The Limits of Soviet Airpower: The Failure of Military Coercion in Afghanistan, 1979-89". University of New Brunswick Libraries. Retrieved 2007-03-29.
  11. ^ Mahmud Ali, S. (11 April 2007). US-China Cold War Collaboration. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-24581-9.
  12. ^ Johnson, Thomas H.; Adamec, Ludwig W. (15 May 2021). Historical Dictionary of Afghanistan. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-4929-4.
  13. ^ a b c d Afghan Guerilla warfare. Voyageur Press. 2001. ISBN 978-0-7603-1322-0.
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