PAKISTAN-U.S.S.R. SHOWDOWN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740084-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 84
• Publication Date: March 25, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740084-1
A"T~"4.E +P- :.ABED
WASHINGTON TIMES
25 March 1985
Pakistan-U. ? showdown
The crisis d 10
was
reci
it
t
By Marin Strmecki
SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Mos-
cow's new campaign of intimidation
against Pakistan has produced its
first tangible success, forcing
Afghan resistance forces to abandon
a string of military posts along the
Afghan-Pakistani border overrun
just 10 days ago.
The Afghans yielded, and the
Soviet Union re-established its con-.
trol over a 15-kilometer stretch of
the strategic Thur Kham Highway
running from the Khyber Pass
toward Kabul after threatening to
;,bomb populated border areas in
Pakistan.
{ In addition, an Afghan resistance
group said yesterday that two of its
!. leading guerrilla commanders were
killed by mines scattered by Soviet
troops ' during the sweep through
rebel bases near the, Pakistani bor-
der.
At the ' same time, according to
analysts in Washington, a 5,000-.
member Afghan army force assisted
by Soviet special forces is chewing
up permanent Afghan resistance
bases stretching from the highway.
to the Khyber Pass. `
"They're obviously going for the
kill," an analyst said.
The Soviet campaign of intimida-
tion against. Pakistan was signaled
less than two weeks ago, when Paki-
stani President Mohammed Zia
ul-Haq traveled to Moscow to attend
the funeral of the late Soviet Pres-
ident Konstantin Chernenko.
According to a report from the
' Soviet news agency Tass, Mikhail
Gorbachev, the new Soviet leader,
castigated President Zia for support-
ing "aggression" against . Afghan-
istan from Pakistani soil, and
ative" way. .
President Zia referred to that
stern warning from Mr. Gorbachev.
when he addressed the new Parlia-
ment last week and pledged anew his
support for the Afghan resistance..
Moreover, in Soviet academic cir-
cles, a major theme recently is the
artificiality of Pakistan's borders,
p
p
a
e
I characterized as a "colonial cre-
ation." The implication of such argu- days ago, when resistance com-
ments is that in any overall manders in the field decided to
settlement of. Central Asia, there mount a systematic attack on gov-
t may be no place for Pakistan as a F._ernment posts along the highway in
retaliation for recent heavy artillery
l state. bombardment.
I There has been speculation Sources said that offensive,
recently that the Soviet Union, launched without consulting leaders
under an aggressive new leader, in Peshawar, violated an informal
may be using threats against a U.S.
ally in an attempt to encourage the agreement beween Islamabad and
United States to reduce its pressure resistance organizations not to
on Nicaragua. attack Kabul government posts near
the border to avoid giving the Soviet
An analogous maneuver was Union a pretext to strike directly
attempted during the Cuban missile against Pakistan.
i crisis, when Moscow demanded that Sayed Mohammed, a commander
Washington pull its nuclear missiles from the area whose units are affili-
out of `Ilirkey, a Soviet neighbor, in ated with the National Islamic Front
exchange for the removal of newly 'of Afghanstan (NIFA), said local
I placed missiles in Cuba. military leaders chose unanimously
According to sources in the 11 to ignore the agreement with Paki
Peshawar-based Afghan political stan.
parties, the Soviet Union claimed "We were being bombed by artil-
that Pakistan was assisting the resis ; lery fire from those posts, and so it
tance forces holding the highway was out of the duty of self-defense
and that bombardment on the Paki- that we retaliated. Can the Pakistani
stani side of the border would..be_ authorities secure our lives?" he
undertaken if the roadside posts said.
~ywere not evacuated. After two days of sporadic but
In the past year, Afghan air force heavy fighting, resistance units had
ters have flown over overrun 10 government posts -
li
d h
cop
e
jets an
170 sorties across the border, killing
more than 250 people.
Sources said that Pakistani
authorities informed leaders of the
Afghan resistance of the Soviet
demand and insisted that their
forces comply immediately. At the
same time, border troops also began
stopping supply trucks traveling.
toward the area and arresting resis-,
tance commanders who were
returning to the front after consult-
ing with military leaders in Pes=
hawar.
As a result of ammunition.
shortages and in accordance with
the orders of their parties' military
committees, the resistance fighters
withdrew from their positions on the
highway within 48 hours.
The next day a major Soviet-
rAfghan government force, which
witnesses said included some 200
tanks, reoccupied the area and
assaulted resistance positions in
nearby mountains for two days.
including positions on strategic
Sham Shat Mountain that control the
Afghan end of the Khyber Pass.
Sayed Mohammed said 300 resis-
tance troops" were involved in the
attacks. He said that more than 100
Afghan government troops were
killed and that another 150 were cap- ;
tured. He also reported that casual-
ties to the resistance forces included
only five killed and about 20
wounded.
Lal Mohammed: another NIFA
I commander who returned from the
area yesterday, said intelligence
reports were received indicating
that a .large armored column was
preparing to retake the area. As a
resu It, resistance forces planted
dozens of mines along the road.
Gus Constantine contributed to
this report from Washington.
?Marin Strmecki has been in Paki-
stan for two months and has spent
the last three weeks on the Afghan-
Pakistani border. Earlier, he worked
for three years as a research assis-
tant for former President Richard M.
1 Nixon on his books.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03: CIA-RDP90-00965R000605740084-1