Word: rebel
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John tugged the sleeve of the pilot from the rebel Northern Alliance, who was aboard to guide the aircraft through the treacherous mountains of northeastern Afghanistan. "They're not ours," the Afghan shouted, letting John know that the helicopter could be fired on from below. The Taliban fighters, however, were so stunned by the appearance of the beastly aircraft roaring above them that they did not have time to shoulder their weapons and shoot before it flew out of range. "Wonderful," the CIA officer shouted to his Afghan comrade...
...thing, these activities have led to weapons ending up in the wrong hands. In the aftermath of the operation in Afghanistan in the 1980s, hundreds of Stinger missiles that the CIA used to arm the Afghan rebels remain unaccounted for. The agency has been trying to buy them back but has recovered perhaps only a hundred or so. Among the seven Afghan rebel groups, all the major ones received the agency's shoulder-fired Stingers, which can effectively bring down an aircraft at an altitude of 6,000 to 8,000 ft. or more. Twenty-four...
...faced with the additional threat of a rebel force hiding out in the caves of southern Afghanistan, the U.S. launched Operation Mongoose. Their target: the Adhi Ghar range of mountains, a favorite base of the mujahedin fighting the Soviets in the 1980s. Honeycombed with caves, these granite ridges rear up out of the desert and are covered in a jumble of boulders that offer perfect cover for snipers. In recent weeks, this hideout had become the base for a new enemy commander whom the U.S. is now confronting for the first time: Hafiz Abdul Rahim, a rebel chieftain and former...
...With the captured rebel Ghani leading the way, U.S. special forces and their Afghan allies converged on Rahim's mountain hideout on Jan. 27. Surprise was on the Americans' side as dozens of Afghan soldiers and U.S. special forces launched the attack. "Their leader Rahim only had time to grab his turban and run," chuckled one pro-U.S. commander, Abdul Raziq Achakzai. An initial firefight with the rebels lasted just 10 minutes. Then, a swarm of green helicopters dropped out of the clouds and disgorged 250 Marines. They took cover on the rocky slopes, trying to seal off their...
...Operation Mongoose wore on, it became apparent that Adhi Ghar was intended as a large-scale, long-term rebel base. Soldiers blew up six arms caches hidden in the caves and found vast stores of food and other supplies. The rebels had pack mules and their own flock of sheep. "They had mutton," says Raziq. "They were eating a lot better than we were." Strategically, the base was perfectly located for attacks against American troops. It lies within striking range of several special-forces camps and a large U.S. air base in Kandahar. As an added advantage, it was just...