After 19 days, the DRA/Soviet troops held Zhawar for five hours. In addition to the standard mines and booby traps, the Soviet forces planted seismic-detonated mines and sprinkled aerial-delivered butterfly bombs over the area. The Mujahideen returned to Zhawar on the 20th. The Mujahideen pushed forward from Zhawar to retake Lezhi and other areas. Only the cave entrances were destroyed. The weapons stored in some of the caves were still intact and useable. Mujahideen casualties were 281 KIA and 363 WIA. DRA and Soviet losses are unknown, but the Mujahideen reportedly destroyed 24 helicopters, shot down two jets and captured 530 personnel of the 38th Commando Brigade. The Mujahideen executed Colonel Qalandar Shah, the commander of the 38th Commando Brigade and another colonel who landed with the brigade as artillery spotters. There were 78 other officers among the prisoners. They were given a chance to confess to their crimes from different battles. All 78 officers were executed. All soldiers were given amnesty. The amnestied soldiers were asked to perform two years of labor service in exchange for the amnesty. They did their service in logistics, were "reeducated" and released after two years. The DRA/Soviets celebrated the fall of Zhawar with parades and medals as a major victory. The Kabul press indicated that the enemy had lost 2000 men and another 4000 wounded!Pure propaganda. Zhawar was in full operation within weeks of the attack! The Mujahideen had learned to make connecting tunnels between caves. The caves were improved and lengthened to 400-500 meters long. The region later fell to the Taliban militia in the mid-1990s, and the area became a training center for various mujahideen groups affiliated with them. The site suffered some damage from American cruise missiles in 1998, but remained in use. The Zhawar complex saw action most recently beginning on January, 3, 2002, enduring a two-week American bombardment of remaining Taliban elements in the region, following the larger action at Tora Bora in December 2001. Four B-1B bombers, four F- A/18 Hornets and an A/C-130 gunship were involved in the air action at Zhawar. Afterwards, Navy SEAL teams detonated on-ground explosives to seal as many of the caves as possible, presumably far more thoroughly than the Soviet sappers did in 1986. They found that "the complex had proven to be more extensive than previously thought" according to the US DoD. Because of its close proximity to the tribal areas of Pakistan's North West Province, the Zhawar region will likely continue to be a staging area for insurgency into Afghanistan for the forseeable future. The Soviet Nadir Cataclysm at Zhawar Afghanistan: April 1986 Assault and Plan Cataclysm and Into the Hornet's Nest Consequences and a Second Attempt The End at Zhawar Orders of Battle Back to Table of Contents -- Against the Odds vol. 1 no. 3 Back to Against the Odds List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by LPS. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com * Buy this back issue or subscribe to Against the Odds direct from LPS.