Word: panjshir
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...East and South Atlantic is a stubborn conflict in Afghanistan, where determined guerrillas continue to resist a 100,000-strong Soviet occupation force. Last month, in the largest operation since their December 1979 invasion of Afghanistan, the Soviets tried to root out the well-disciplined mujahedin of the lush Panjshir Valley, north of Kabul. TIME's William Dowell spent 22 days, disguised in a native tunic and baggy pantaloons, trekking over 16,000-ft. passes with a guerrilla caravan in order to witness the combat. Dowell's report...
Although they have not other mujahedin, the Soviets have prevented irrigation of the crops, and that could lead to drought and famine later in the year. The Soviets wanted to move a thousand Communist volunteers into the Panjshir to settle the valley, but a convoy carrying the volunteers was ambushed and destroyed...
...hired donkeys to carry our backpacks, but nonetheless had a difficult time reaching the top of the pass that led back out of the Panjshir Valley. As we reached the summit, we saw before us a seemingly unending stream of small guerrilla pack trains, each laden with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, burlap sacks of ammunition, mortars and AK-47s. The horses stumbled as they tried to climb the zigzagging paths...
Just 60 miles from Kabul, in fact, in the Ghorband Valley leading to the city of Bamiyan (pop. 47,000), seesaw battles between Soviet troops and bands of insurgents are said to have caused heavy casualties on both sides. In the Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul, the Soviets have apparently given up their attempt to dislodge the fierce mujahidin (Islamic warriors) from their strongholds. Similarly, Soviet troops have been unsuccessful in efforts to reimpose order on the lawless city of Herat in the northwest, and have only managed to maintain a tenuous and frequently interrupted hold on Kandahar...