Battles of Zhawar The battles of Zhawar were fought during the Soviet war in Afghanistan between Soviet Army units , and their allies of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against Afghan mujahideen groups . The Soviets ' objective was to destroy the Mujahideen logistic base situated at Zhawar , 3 kilometers from the Pakistani border . Zhawar . The Mujahideen base at Zhawar , situated in Paktia Province , served as a storage facility for supplies and equipment being transferred from neighbouring Pakistan to the various guerrilla groups operating in the region . It also served as a training and command facility . The Mujahideen had dug tunnels up to 500 m into the Sodyaki Ghar mountain , with accommodations including a hotel , a mosque , a medical point and a garage to house the two T - 55 tanks that had been captured from the DRA in 1983 . The troops defending the base numbered 500 , and they were armed with a D - 30 howitzer , several BM - 21 multiple rocket launcher s and five ZPU - 1 and ZPU - 2 heavy machine - guns for air defence . Additionally , other Mujahideen groups were active in the area , and they participated in the defense of the base when necessary . These groups were part of various movements including the " Hezbi Islami " , the " Hezb - e Islami Khalis " , the " Harakat - i - Inqilab - i - Islami " and the " Mahaz - e - Melli " , though all in theory came under the authority of regional commander Jalaluddin Haqqani . The First Battle . The first offensive was launched in September 1985 by elements of the 12th and 25th DRA divisions , supported by Soviet airpower , at a time when the major Mujahideen commanders were absent , including Haqqani , who was performing the Hajj , the pilgrimage to Mecca . The DRA forces first attacked from Khost , and succeeded in capturing the village of Bori , to the northeast of Zhawar . They then ran into heavy resistance and had to pull back . The main attack came on September 4 , and was at first successful , capturing the village of Lezhi and killing a Mujahideen commander . Very soon the attack was halted at the Manay Kandow pass , that had been heavily fortified by the Mujahideen . For 10 days the defenders held out , but were finally forced to withdraw , under heavy airstrikes by Soviet aircraft . This enabled the DRA forces to cross the pass and capture the Tor Kamar position , overlooking Zhawar , from where they could direct artillery fire at the Mujahideen base . At this point the Mujahideen launched a counter - attack , led by their two T - 55 tanks . The DRA were caught by surprise , as they had not expected to meet armour , and they fell back after sustaining heavy losses . The DRA commander tried to renew the assault , but by that time the Mujahideen had received reinforcements from Pakistan , and they were able to repel further attacks . Finally after 42 of days fighting , the DRA units withdrew to their bases . This victory considerably boosted the morale of the Mujahideen . The Second Battle . The second offensive was conducted on a larger scale , and eventually involved 12 , 000 troops , including 2 , 200 Soviets , led by DRA General Nabi Azimi , with Soviet General V . G . Trofimenko serving as advisor . The offensive began on 28 February 1986 , a short while after General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev had announced the decision to withdraw Soviet troops from Afghanistan . Thus the Soviet units were initially confined to supporting the Afghan offensive . The opening moves were conducted by DRA ground troops attacking from Khost and Gardez who made very slow progress , due to bad weather and harassment by the Mujahideen , reaching the approaches to Zhawar only one month later . The second phase of the offensive was to be an airborne assault carried out by the Afghan 38th Commando Brigade . The initial assault group , transported by Mi - 8 helicopters , departed on 2 April , but they got lost in the darkness and accidentally landed on the wrong side of the Pakistani border . This force was quickly surrounded and taken prisoner . The main airborne assault came in the immediate vicinity of Zhawar , and was supported by precision airstrikes by Soviet Su - 25 attack aircraft . These attacks caused some losses among the Mujahideen defenders , even trapping 150 of them , including Haqqani , inside a cave that had been targeted by a missile . Haqqani later escaped and led 700 - 800 Mujahideen in a series of counter - attacks against the DRA landing zones , that they overran one by one . After three days of fighting , the DRA 38th Brigade had ceased to exist as a fighting force , and 530 commandos had been captured by the Mujahideen . The DRA also lost 24 helicopters . This fiasco prompted the Soviets to take over the operation , whose command was given to General Valentin Varennikov . The DRA force was strengthened with Soviet units , and the aerial bombardment of Mujahideen positions was intensified and pursued round the clock . Eventually , on April 17 , the offensive was renewed . After several unsuccessful attempts , the DRA / Soviet force managed to capture the strategic Dawri Gar mountain . At a crucial moment , a " Hezbi Islami " unit drew back from their positions without fighting . At the same time , Jalaluddin Haqqani was injured in an airstrike , causing rumours of his death to spread rapidly among the Mujahideen , and their forces abandoned the defense of Zhawar , that was overrun by government forces . The Soviet engineers tasked with destroying the base had very little time to do so , as the Afghan troops were intent on withdrawing as soon as possible , fearing a Mujahideen counter - attack . In the end they tried to do as much damage as they could by detonating explosives inside the caves , and laying seismic mine s before withdrawing hurriedly . Aftermath and Losses . The Soviet and DRA losses remain uncertain , but were presumably heavy . The Mujahideen claimed to have destroyed 24 helicopters and 2 jets , and captured 530 prisoners , for a loss of 281 killed and 363 injured . Of the 500 Afghan prisoners , 78 officers were tried and executed by Haqqani and Khalis , including the commander of the 38th commando brigade , Colonel Qalandar Shah . The Afghan government celebrated their victory , and though the success had proved costly , it served to alleviate the pressure on Khost , that was then under siege . However , Zhawar was quickly retaken by the Mujahideen , who repaired the damage , and strengthened their defenses .