On the carpet you see the campaign of the Mujahedin and Pakistani army against the Afghan central government in Jalalabad on March 5, 1989.
In addition to the war motifs, the balanced composition of this finely crafted carpet contains, in particular, the many warplanes and helicopters at Samarkhil Airport in Jalalabad, a city in southern Afghanistan bordering Pakistan, and shows the Mujahideen attack on Samarkhil Airport in March 1989.
Size: about 260*185cm
pure wool pile,
Wool chain
Symbols of war and peace characterize an exceptional category of Afghan tapestries. The war in Afghanistan (since 1980) forms the background for this imaginative art. Carpets with tanks, rockets and assault rifles, but also with tree of life and mosque motifs, tell a story. They are pictures weaved against the forgetting of terrible war experiences.
The history
The campaigns of the mujahideen against the Afghan central government
The campaign against Jalalabad
Ambassadors from some Western countries and the US withdrew from Kabul after Hekmatyar's rocket attacks, despite the efforts of dr Najibullah, Prime Minister of the central government, to restore calm in Kabul. Somehow, Hekmatyar had managed to dupe and unsettle the leaders of Western countries. Najibullah was left to his own devices and, as he said, abandoned by West and East. While a few hundred Afghans demonstrated in Peshawar for the return of Zaher Shah(2.2 89'), political groups, supported by Pakistani President Benazir Bhutto (1988-1991), were preparing to attack Jalalabad(7.2 89')
On March 5, 89', the mujahideen Hekmatyar and Sayyaf, supported by Pakistani officers, attacked Jalalabad. The strategically important city was defended by 17,000 government troops armed with cannons and tanks under their commander Mohammad Assef Delawar.
Pakistani helicopters and fighter jets continuously bombarded enemy positions. Fifteen thousand Hekmatyar supporters and several thousand Pakistanis, including Pakistani officers, bombed Jalalabad from planes and fired 16,000 rockets, many of them US Stinger rockets. The border town of Towrkham was captured by the Mujahideen and Pakistani soldiers disguised as Mujahideen. The road between Kabul and Jalalabad was thus cut off. Najibullah knew that the fall of Jalalabad would immediately bring about the fall of Kabul. In the battle for Jalalabad, 2,000 government troops fell and 8,000 Mujahideen from Hekmatyar lost their lives. Several government fighter jets were shot down by Pakistani Stinger missiles.
Houses were damaged by ground fighting. Finally, on May 17, the Kabul government won the battle for Jalalabad through the heroic efforts of commander Assef Delawar, and the road between Kabul and Jalalabad was reopened. Towrkham, the important small border town to Pakistan, was recaptured by government troops on July 15, 89'.
Why was the battle of Jalalabad not won by the Mujahideen despite overwhelming odds?
They were far better armed than the Kabul government troops. Pakistani General Hamid Gul and President Benazir Bhutto had meticulously planned the campaign with their staff. The mujahideen under Hekmatyar, who initiated the attack, joined in. The Pakistani government and the political factions in Peshawar later repeatedly accused each other of making mistakes. Hekmatyar and Sayyaf had no experience of war and therefore considered the possibility of defeat to be small.
The second attack on Jalalabad
The mujahideen approached the city of Jalalabad for the second time with a three-way attack. The mujahideen had prepared to take Khowst, Gardez and Ghasni, destroy Kabul with rockets and force Kandahar to surrender. This advance began on 11/14 89' and lasted over 4 months. 90' 1,800 Pakistanis and 1,900 Hekmatyar supporters joined the attack.
In addition, around 500 heavily armed fighters came from other Mujahideen groups. The terrorist group Al Qaeda also took part in the campaign. The mujahideen planned to launch their lightning attack before the anniversary of the Saur revolution. On the royal road from Jalalabad to Kabul (the Silk Straits), the advance of the Mujahideen was stopped by government troops. The weapons, tanks and cannons promised by the Soviet Union before its withdrawal from Afghanistan reached Kabul in good time and could be used immediately.
The Mujahideen fled after killing hundreds of children and women with their rocket attacks. The orange groves, the gardens and many houses were destroyed by the fighting.
Book: THE HISTORY OF AFGHANISTAN by (Habibo Brechna)
XV.1Page 375
XV.2 page 37
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