Draft:1986 Miran Shah incident

The 1986 Miran Shah incident refers to an accidental intrusion of Pakistani territory by the 38th Commando Brigade of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan during the Second Battle of Zhawar. The strike force, constituting 120 personnel and six helicopters, accidentally landed near Miran Shah, Pakistan instead of Zhawar due to poor visibility in the darkness of night. This force was surrounded and taken prisoner, with only 24 escapees.

Background
The Second Battle of Zhawar was a significant engagement that took place during the Soviet-Afghan War. It pitted Afghan Army units, supported by the Soviet Union, against mujahideen faction led by Jalaluddin Haqqani. The objective of the battle was to destroy the mujahideen's logistical base located in Zhawar, just three kilometers from the Durand Line.

The initial offensive, known as the First Battle of Zhawar, and was launched in September 1985. DRA divisions, with air support from the Soviet Union, initiated the attack while major mujahideen commanders were absent, including Haqqani who was on pilgrimage to Mecca. The DRA forces advanced from Khost and successfully captured the village of Bori, northeast of Zhawar. However, they encountered fierce resistance and were forced to retreat.

The main attack began on September 4 and initially achieved success, with the capture of the village of Lezhi and the killing of a mujahideen commander. However, the offensive was halted at the heavily fortified Manay Kandow pass, where the mujahideen put up a strong defense.

Incident
On 2 April 1986, the DRA launched artillery strikes and aerial bombardment on Zhawar cave network. Then six Mi-8 carrying 120 troops of the 38th Commando Brigade took off from Khost airfield, with the aim of landing at the designated point near Zhawar. The commandos successfully landed facing no resistance, but the ground assault had to encounter fierce resistance from Mujahideen forces present at the Dawri Gar mountain. The ground offensive was forced to stop as they were encountering heavy losses. The command post for the operation was shifted from Khost to Tani and contacted the aerial assault group. The commander of the assault group reported that they could see the battle taking place far away from their location. It was now 3 in the morning. The Afghan government artillery fired an flare on the Dawri Gar mountain. The command station asked the assault group commander that "Do you see the round?" and they replied that the location was about 15 kilometers from their location. The Afghan government artillery again fired another flare five kilometers south. Again the commander was asked that whether he could see the flare. He replied that it was about ten kilometers from their location. Command post informed the assault group that they had crossed the border and landed five kilometers inside Pakistan near Miran Shah. Soon the strike group began withdrawal preparations.

Mujahideen and Pakistani response
Following the air assault, the Soviet Air Forces bombed Mujahideen positions. The Mujahideen then attacked the landing zones of 38th Commando, overrunning four of them and capturing 530 commandos. A single group of Afghan commandos managed to hold out against the mujahideen for three days before being finally overrun. All six Mi-8 helicopters and all 120 commandos were captured. Hundreds of Special Service Group personnel were deployed to Zhawar. Pakistani officers were additionally sent to Zhawar and attempted to take down Afghan and Soviet aircraft with English blowpipes to no avail, as one Pakistani officer and his NCO were injured as a result of the aerial bombardment. Jalaluddin Haqqani tried and executed Colonel Qalandar Shah alongside 78 other officers who were forced to “confess their crimes” from different operations and then executed. However, regular soldiers were given amnesty as they were conscripts and were ordered to complete two years of labour if they wanted to be fully amnestied. After sustaining heavy casualties, the commando brigades were converted into battalions.

Aircraft shootdown
To bomb Mujahideen bases, the Soviet planes began flying over Pakistani airspace. In response, the Pakistani Army sent a small number of soldiers with blowpipe missiles to shoot down any enemy aircraft flying overhead. They fired a total of 14 surface-to-air missiles on Soviet aircraft. Moreover, Soviet air strikes on Pakistani forces wounded two Pakistani soldiers.