Siege of Urgon The Siege of Urgon was a military engagement that took place during the Soviet war in Afghanistan . Between August 1983 and January 1984 Mujahideen forces laid siege to the town of Urgon , that was defended by a garrison of troops loyal to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan . The mujahideen tried to take the town by storm using tank s , but despite making initial progress , they were eventually driven back and the siege was lifted . Prelude . Starting in July 1983 , large numbers of Mujahideen fighters began to concentrate around Urgon . The town represented a political objective , in that the newly formed Mujahideen government - in - exile had set its sights on Urgon as a future provisional capital . The attacking Mujahideen belonged to three different parties : Sayyaf ' s Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan , Khalis ' Hezb - e Islami Khalis ( HIK ) , and Gailani ' s National Islamic Front of Afghanistan ( NIFA ) . They were joined by a certain number of freelance Pashtun tribesmen , attracted by the prospect of loot . Sayyaf managed to persuade major commanders , such as Jalaluddin Haqqani , to participate in the offensive . The mujahideen belonged to the Wazir , Jadran and Kharoti tribes . The DRA garrison consisted of 900 men of the 15th Brigade , under Colonel Sayed Rahman , supplemented by some local militias . 600 men were deployed inside the town , and the remainder in outlying outposts . The Urgon airfield , situated to the west of the town , was defended by a reinforced company . A battalion unit was stationed at a fort known as Nek Mohammed Kala , to the south of the town , and another company occupied a post to the north of Urgon , protecting the main road leading into the town . An old fort , known as the Octagonal Fort , served as the main DRA position , protecting the town itself . Siege . In August 1983 , the mujahideen laid siege to the Nek Mohammed Kala fortress , but they were unable to approach it as it was protected by minefields and heavy machine - guns . However , on September 18 , the insurgents were able to ambush a supply column and capture a tank . The prize , crewed by former DRA crewmen was quickly put to use , clearing a path through the minefields and knocking out the machine guns , before breaching the fort walls . A 65 - strong mujahideen assault party stormed through the breach , after which the Nek Mohammed Kala garrison quickly surrendered . Of the 243 prisoners , most were released , and those who wished were allowed to join the resistance . A few days later , the mujahideen completed the encirclement of Urgon , by capturing a security outpost on a mountain to the west of the town . The DRA garrison were forced to rely on aerial resupply , as all roads were cut . However , the road between the airfield and the town was under mujahideen machine - gun fire , so supplies could only be carried in armoured vehicles . To bolster their defenses , the DRA flew in an operations group led by General Jamaluddin Omar , who redeployed one battalion to the south of Urgon . In January 1984 , the mujahideen began the second phase of their plan , a direct assault on Urgon itself . The plan called for an attack led by the captured tank from the south , together with a concerted attack from the north , led by another tank , and the broadcasting of tank engine sounds from the southeast , in order to deceive the defenders over the direction of the main assault . After an artillery preparation , the attack from the south began , and met with initial success . The tank crossed the minefields protecting Urgon , destroying machineguns on the way , followed by an assault group that overran the positions of the battalion defending the south of the town . The DRA soldiers who evaded capture retreated into the octagonal fort , where General Jamaluddin Omar was stationed . However , the northern attack never got underway , as the second tank had got stuck in the sand . The mujahideen who had entered Urgon soon began to run short of ammunition , and one of the crew members of their tank was killed . The tank was sent back to the rear to fetch ammunition , but some mujahideen saw this as a signal to retreat , and the DRA garrison managed to counterattack and drive the mujahideen from the town . In the morning , Soviet and Afghan aircraft relentlessly bombed and strafed the exposed mujahideen , destroying their tank and forcing them to retreat into the mountains . On January 16 , an Afghan army column broke through to Urgon , lifting the siege . Aftermath . The attack against Urgon was part of a general offensive by the Mujahideen in eastern Afghanistan . A concurrent attack against Khost also failed , but the insurgents managed to capture Jaji . The mujahideen parties in Pakistan had received new weapons , and thus the insurgents demonstrated new confidence in carrying out large - scale operations involving different factions . However , they were still plagued by internal divisions . In autumn 1983 , two tank crews defected from the Urgon garrison with their T - 55 s , but quarrels over the ownership of the tanks between NIFA and HIK prevented them from being used in the battle . According to Olivier Roy , the fighting around Urgon still bore the hallmarks of the traditional tribal warfare of Afghanistan . It took the shape of a rapid flareup of violence , occurring in the period after the harvests and continuing during the winter . It was characterised by a lack of strategy , and the immediate goal was the capture of booty . For the Mujahideen guarding the road to Urgon , there was a strong possibility that would be denied their share of the loot , in favour of those participating in the direct assault of the town . Therefore they rapidly abandoned their positions , which explains why the government forces had little difficulty in breaking the siege .