AFGHANISTAN SITUATION REPORT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 13
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 21, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 20, 1986
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
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Afghanistan Situation Report
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
Soviet and Afghan forces continued their large-
scale offensive against insurgents in northern
Pakita Province for the second week, while
preparations are under way for a combined
Soviet-Afghan attack in nearby Nazian Valley.
Afghan refugee relief transportation system in
Pakistan is over-centralized and poorly managed.
Still, essential supplies are reaching the
refugees.
Money changers in Kabul continue to operate with
few restrictions under the Communist regime
probably because they provide the
regime with
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necessary foreign exchange. 25X1
Badakshan Province in mid-1985,
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20 May 1986
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the Jamiat-i-Islami guerrilla groups there were
functioning successfully, despite shortages of
some supplies. F]
This document is prepared weekly by the Office of
Near Eastern and South Asian Analysis and the
Office of Soviet Analysis. Questions or comments
on the issues raised in the publication should be
20 MAY 1986
NESA M 86 20074JX
SOVA M 86-20049JX
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
LARGE-SCALE OPERATION CONTINUES IN PAXTIA PROVINCE 25X1
Soviet and Afghan regime forces are pressing their
offensive against guerrillas in Paktia Province for a
major elements of a Soviet air assault brigade
with air and artillery support had deployed northeast
of Ali Kheyl from Sawat Lgada. The task force, which
includes about half of an artillery regiment, is
conducting sweeps near the Pakistani border to clear
out insurgents that have harassed local Afghan
garrisons. Press reports say the recent fighting has
produced heavy casualties on both sides, including two
commanders of Abdul Rasul Sayyaf's Islamic Union for
the Liberation of Afghanistan. Although the defending
insurgents--primarily from the National Islamic Front--
probably will continue to offer stiff resistance, they
may abandon their fortified positions in the face of
the overwhelming firepower of opposition forces.
most Soviet units have
departed from their garrisons at Jalalabad.
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insurgents ambushed
convoys near Metharlam and southwest of Kabul, and the
US Embassy in Kabul reports a large fuel convoy was
attacked near the Salang Pass on 9 May.
20 MAY 1986
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An unpublished study by a West German consulting firm
on the Afghan refugee relief transportation system in
Pakistan charges Islamabad with poor management,
according to the US Embassy in Islamabad. Although
essential food and relief supplies reach the refugees,
the study concludes that the system is overcentralized
and relies too heavily on expensive trucking instead of
more cost-effective rail transport. In addition, the
army's National Logistics Cell (NLC), which has been
involved in the transport of refugee relief goods since
1982, is accused of overcharging.
COMMENT: The Pakistani Government probably will be
reluctant to make major revisions in the current
transportation arrangements. Islamabad transports the
majority of refugee commodities by truck because it
uses railway cars to ship bulk items for the domestic
20 MAY 1986
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/11/23: CIA-RDP86T01017R000302420001-9
economy. Pakistani reluctance to remedy the
shortcomings probably will prompt refugee relief
officials to rely more heavily on private trucking.
Money changers. continue to operate with relatively few
restrictions under the Communist regime in Kabul,
according to the president of the Kabul money changers
union. The money changers are free to set daily market
exchange rates--which they determine by listening to
foreign radio broadcasts on international currency
rates--and to open foreign currency accounts in foreign
banks. In return for this freedom, the money changers
supply the regime with foreign exchange at a
preferential rate to finance the regime's foreign
trade. There are about 110 money changers operating in
Kabul; most have partners in Dubai who provide links to
COMMENT: The regime suffers from a shortage of foreign
exchange because of chronic balance of payments
deficits. Kabul continues to allow the private sector
to function in many areas of the economy, demonstrating
its willingness to sacrifice ideology for practical
considerations.
2,500 insurgents in the Kowkcheh Valley east of
Feyzabad were reasonably well-supplied with small arms
and food but suffered shortages of antiaircraft weapons
and warm clothing and had inadequate medical care.
insurgent morale as generally high and
noted that the Jamiat forces in the area were commanded
by Basir Khan, one of the more effective of the younger
Jamiat field commanders. the Jamiat
insurgents had significant disagreements with local
Hizbi-Islami (Gulbuddin) members.
20 MAY 1986
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COMMENT: Badakhshan Province is a relative backwater
of the war, because of the area's remoteness.
Accordingly, insurgents in this area probably are given
a much lower priority for supply shipments from
- A delegation of Afghan resistance leaders visited
Colombia in early May as part of a Latin American
tour to gain support for their cause. The
delegation was received by Colombian President
Betancur and other high-ranking officials. The
insurgents also plan visits to Mexico, 3razil,
Argentina, and Chile.
the Soviet Ministry of
Defense recently changed the law governing military
20 MAY 1986
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service in Afghanistan. I I male
conscripts who are only sons would be exempt from
duty there. the move reflects the
Soviet leadership's growing sensitivity over
casualties suffered in Afghanistan.
An allusion to the war in Afghanistan--including
mention of the use of poison gas--appeared in a
drama recently staged in Moscow, according to the
US Embassy in Moscow. The oblique reference
evidently escaped the censors' notice.
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