“Black Stork” or “Black Storks” is a sabotage and fighter elite detachment of the Afghan Mujahideen, the leader of which, according to various sources, was Khattab, Hekmatyar and Osama bin Laden. According to other sources, Pakistani special forces. According to the third version, “Black Storks” (Chokhatlor) are those people who committed a crime before Allah: they killed, stole, etc. They had to atone for their guilt before Allah only with the blood of infidels. There was information that among the “storks” there were people of European appearance with punk hairstyles who traveled in Isuzu jeeps. Each “stork” simultaneously performed the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc. In addition, the fighters of this special unit, created to carry out sabotage operations, owned almost all types of small arms.
Addition
"Black Stork" - a special forces unit, was created during the Afghan War of 1979-1989. by a number of intelligence services of Pakistan and other interested countries from among the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign mercenaries. The members of the Black Stork were well-trained military specialists, professionally proficient in various types of weapons, communications equipment, and knowledge of topographic maps. They knew the terrain well and were unpretentious in everyday life. They were based mainly in the hard-to-reach provinces of the Afghan highlands bordering Pakistan and Iran, at the bases and fortified areas of the Afghan Mujahideen. They took an active part in organizing ambushes on units of the Soviet troops. A number of such clashes became a difficult page in the history of the Afghan war.
Death of the Maravar company in the province of Kunar of the 1st company of the 334th special forces detachment of the 15th ObrSpN GRU General Staff - April 21, 1985
Battle of the 4th company of the 149th motorized rifle regiment near the village of Konyak in Kunar province - May 25, 1985.
Battle at height 3234 near the village of Alikheil, Paktia province
The “Black Stork” detachment was equipped with a special black uniform, with stripes of this special. divisions. - With rare exceptions (in the person of instructors), all members of the Black Stork were adherents of fundamental Islam. Mostly natives of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Very often, during an intense battle, flaunting their own fearlessness, the “Black Storks” stood up to their full height in order to fire a shell from a grenade launcher, or fire a long burst. With this action, as well as the reading over a horn loudspeaker during the battle, suras from the holy book “Storks” were expected to demoralize - to break the morale of the Soviet soldiers. Special bases for the professional training of “Black Storks” were located mainly in Pakistan and Iran.
Throughout the entire period of stay of the limited contingent in the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, not a single documented case of the destruction of the Black Stork was recorded.
Events related to “black storks”
1985, May - Kunar province, Kunar operation, Battle of the 4th company of the 149th motorized rifle regiment near the village of Konyak.
Detachment "Chokhatlor" (or "Black Stork")
Everyone who was “beyond the river” remembers, knows or has ever heard of the “Black Stork”
“Black Stork” or “Black Storks” is a sabotage and extermination detachment of the Afghan Mujahideen, the leader of which, according to various sources, was Khattab, Hekmatyar, Osama bin Laden.
Based on information from other sources, the “Storks” were formed from members of the Pakistani special forces.
Official version
Special Services Group (SSG) is a Pakistani army special forces unit similar to the American Green Berets. The official number is 2100 fighters. Divided into 3 battalions. The first “baptism of fire” was received in 1965 in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. Participated in the Afghan War (1979-1989)
One of the versions
“Black Stork” is a special forces unit that was created during the Afghan war by a number of special services of Pakistan and other interested countries from among the Afghan Mujahideen (natives of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China) and foreign mercenaries. With rare exceptions (in the person of instructors), all members of the Black Stork were adherents of fundamental Islam. The members of the Black Stork were well-trained military specialists, professionally proficient in various types of weapons, communications equipment, and knowledge of topographic maps. They knew the terrain well and were unpretentious in everyday life. Each “stork” simultaneously performed the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc. In addition, the fighters of this special unit, created to carry out sabotage operations, owned almost all types of small arms. The detachments were located in the provinces of the Afghan highlands bordering Pakistan and Iran, at the bases and fortified areas of the Afghan Mujahideen.
The “Black Stork” detachment was equipped with a special black uniform, with stripes of this special unit. Very often, during an intense battle, flaunting their own fearlessness, the “Black Storks” stood up to their full height in order to fire a shell from a grenade launcher, or fire a long burst. With this action, as well as the reading of suras from the holy book “Storks” over a horn loudspeaker during the battle, they hoped to demoralize and break the morale of the Soviet soldiers.
They took an active part in organizing ambushes on units of Soviet troops:
The battle near the village of Khara - the death of the 1st battalion of the 66th Motorized Rifle Brigade in the Khara gorge, Kunar province - May 11, 1980.
Death of the Maravar company in the province of Kunar of the 1st company of the 334th special forces detachment of the 15th ObrSpN GRU General Staff - April 21, 1985.
The battle of the 4th company of the 149th motorized rifle regiment near the village of Konyak in the province of Kunar - May 25, 1985.
Operation Trap Herat Province - August 18-26, 1986
Battle at height 3234 near the village of Alikheil, Paktia province
Alternative opinion[
Durand Line , which to this day divides the two Central Asian states since the timesBritish India , is actuallyborder between the Islamic republics of Pakistan and Afghanistan . Due to centuries-old historical processes and its high mountainous terrain, it is considered very conditional. OfficialKabul AndIslamabad havedifferent points of view regarding its exact passage .
Units and formations of OKSVA in the period from 1980-1988. in this territorial zone, military operations of various scales were carried out to eliminate the infrastructure of numerous armed formations of the Mujahideen (in particular duringKunar Combined Arms Operations ), grab fromfortified areas , strongholds and transshipment bases.
Pakistani border guards, who at that time wore black uniforms, deployed their outposts as close as possible to the site of these military events and were in constant combat readiness. Professionally trained, they acted harmoniously, clearly interacting with the army artillery assigned for special cases. Often, in cases where Soviet units carried out military operations on the territory bordering Pakistan, the neighboring side assessed the current situation as an external threat to its national security. In a number of cases, the situation was assessed as an actual violation of the state border of the Islamic Republic of Iran by foreign troops (OKSVA) based on Afghan territory, and then the now mythical “Black Storks” - Pakistani soldiers in the notorious black uniform - were used. The position of the Pakistani side was based on the following: the zone of combat operations between the Afghan Mujahideen and OKSVA units, which was nomadic in nature, on the military maps of neighboring states having significant discrepancies, shifted deep into the territory of the IPA, thereby providing for the legal, in accordance with international law, use of military force by the Pakistani side strength.
Later, starting in 1985, in order to avoid an international scandal in connection with cases of border clashes with regular units of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the OKSVA command chose to avoid active combat operations
in the 5-kilometer zone of the Afghan-Pakistan border. For various reasons, this prohibition was sometimes violated by Soviet units.Nevertheless, incidents of armed clashes with Pakistani military personnel were reduced to a minimum, and dramatic memories of military “professionals in black” remained in the soldier’s memory and Afghan veteran folklore, becoming a kind of prototype of the Afghan “Rambo »
According to the third version, “Black Storks” (Chokhatlor) are those people who committed a crime before Allah: they killed, stole, etc. They had to atone for their guilt before Allah only with the blood of infidels. There was information that among the “storks” there was a man of European appearance with a punk hairstyle, driving an Isuzu jeep. Each “stork” simultaneously performed the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc. In addition, the fighters of this special unit, created to carry out sabotage operations, owned almost all types of small arms.
Selected Episodes of clashes between OKSVA units and the Black Stork
Episode one
SPECIAL FORCES IS SPECIAL FORCES
Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC KTK Sergei Kleshchenkov recalls:
“Although I, as a serviceman, was deployed during the conflict in Afghanistan, I personally did not have to deal with “storks.” However, everyone had heard about them - both the rank and file and the command.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar organized the “Black Stork” unit from the most selected thugs who underwent intensive training under the guidance of American and Pakistani instructors. Each “stork” simultaneously performed the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc. In addition, the fighters of this special unit, created to carry out sabotage operations, owned almost all types of small arms and were distinguished by bestial cruelty: they tortured Soviet prisoners of war no worse than the Gestapo.
Although the Black Storks proudly claimed that they had never been defeated by Soviet troops, this was only partly true. And it concerned only the first years of the war. The fact is that our combat units were trained not for guerrilla warfare, but for conducting large-scale combat operations. Therefore, at first they suffered significant losses.
I had to learn by doing. And both soldiers and officers. But it was not without tragic incidents. For example, a major who bore the strange nickname Zero Eight took combat helicopters into the sky and completely destroyed a column of our allies, Babrak Karmal’s fighters, on the march. I later learned that “zero-eight” is the density of oak. At the same time, the special forces soldiers were much better trained and, compared to such “oak” majors, they looked simply brilliant.
TASK – FREE SEARCH
The only Kazakh sergeant of the separate 459th company of the “Cascade” detachment of the USSR GRU, Almaty resident Andrei Dmitrienko, took part in that terrible battle.
A group of Soviet special forces were ambushed, skillfully placed by “storks”, while performing the most ordinary task.
“We received information that some gang destroyed a caravan of fuel tankers 40 kilometers from Kabul. According to Army intelligence, the convoy was carrying secret cargo—new Chinese rocket launchers and possibly chemical weapons. And gasoline was a simple cover.
Our group needed to find surviving soldiers and cargo and deliver them to Kabul. The size of a regular full-time special forces group is ten people. Moreover, the smaller the group, the easier it is to work. But this time it was decided to unite two groups under the command of Senior Lieutenant Boris Kovalev and strengthen them with experienced fighters. Therefore, trainee senior lieutenant Jan Kuskis, as well as two warrant officers Sergei Chaika and Viktor Stroganov, went on a free search.
Each of the fighters carried an AKS-74 assault rifle of 5.45 mm caliber, and the officers preferred AKM of 7.62 mm caliber. In addition, the group was armed with 4 PKMs - modernized Kalashnikov machine guns. This very powerful weapon fired the same cartridges as the Dragunov sniper rifle - 7.62 mm by 54 mm. Although the caliber is the same as the AKM, the cartridge case is longer, and therefore the powder charge is more powerful. In addition to machine guns and machine guns, each of us took with us about a dozen defensive grenades “efok” - F-1, with fragments scattering 200 meters. We despised the offensive RGD-5s for their low power and used them to kill fish.
The combined group walked along the hills parallel to the Kabul-Ghazni highway, which is very similar to the Chilik-Chundzha highway in the Almaty region.
Read completelyEpisode 2
"Cascade" of the UN KGB of the USSR The special purpose detachment "Cascade" of the KGB of the USSR was created in accordance with Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 615-200 dated July 18, 1980. From July 1980 to April 1983, four UN "operated in Afghanistan" Cascade": "Cascade-1" (6 months), "Cascade-2" (6 months), "Cascade-3" months), "Cascade-4" (1 year). The commander of the first three "Cascades" was a colonel. I. Lazarenko, “Cascade-4” was headed by Colonel E.A. Savintsev. The personnel of the UN Cascade-1 consisted of special reservists from the Krasnodar and Alma-Ata regiments and part of the Tashkent OBON battalion (only those who knew Persian were mobilized from other units of the brigade). Since April 1982, the personnel of the “Cascades” were formed by full-time employees of the State Special Forces “Vympel”. “Cascade-1” numbered about a thousand people, had 45 armored personnel carriers, vehicles, of which 12 were vehicles with RASKV radio stations (short-wave aviation communications radio station), 1,100 portable Saturn radio stations. The main tasks of the detachment: - providing assistance to the Afghan people's regime in the creation of local security bodies; - organizing intelligence and operational work against existing Mujahideen gangs; - organizing and conducting special events against the most irreconcilable opponents of the Afghan people's regime and the USSR. In Afghanistan, “Cascade-1” was subordinated to the Special Forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “Cobalt” in the amount of 600 people and was given an additional task: - providing assistance in the creation of Tsarandoy (MVD) and the establishment of people’s power locally. Operational combat groups “Cascades” (“Altai”, “Caucasus”, “Carpathians”, “Karpaty-1”, “Pamir”, “Ural”, “North”, “North-1”, “Tibet”) were deployed in eight largest territorial and administrative centers of Afghanistan, located from 200 to 1000 km from Kabul. Each group had its own area of responsibility, including several provinces. In certain periods, up to 70% of the territories located in the zone of responsibility of the “stuntmen” were controlled by the enemy. On June 7, 1982, the Cascada-4 OBG, together with a unit of the Cobalt special detachment, prevented the capture by a large gang (in some sources we are talking about two companies of soldiers of the regular Pakistani army, dressed as Mujahideen) of the large administrative center of Kandahar. During the battle, the gang was scattered. Enemy losses were 45 killed and 26 wounded. Special forces losses - 1 killed, 12 wounded, 2 armored personnel carriers destroyed. Operating in Afghanistan, the Cascades carried out many successful military operations, reconnaissance and sabotage actions. At the end of the Cascades' activities, they had 482 information sources working for them. On April 8, 1983, Cascade-4 was replaced by the Omega special squad. For the courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, Major V.I. Beluzhenko, an employee of the Ural OBG of the Cascade-1 detachment, was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union (11/24/80). During the fighting in Afghanistan, 6 officers of the Cascade detachments were killed: A. Pribolev, A. Zotov, V. Kuzmin, A. Petrunin, A. Puntus, Yu.
Oleg GUBAIDULIN
Exactly 20 years ago, the brainchild of famous terrorists Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Osama bin Laden - the elite special forces of the Afghan Mujahideen "Black Stork" - suffered a crushing defeat for the first time. The role of offenders of the feathered spirits was played by 23 special forces soldiers of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the USSR.
SPECIAL FORCES IS SPECIAL FORCES
Chairman of the Board of Directors of OJSC KTK Sergei Kleshchenkov recalls:
Although I, as a serviceman, was deployed during the conflict in Afghanistan, I personally did not have to deal with “storks.” However, everyone had heard about them - both the rank and file and the command.
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar organized the Black Stork unit from the finest thugs who underwent intensive training under the guidance of American and Pakistani instructors. Each “stork” simultaneously performed the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc. In addition, the fighters of this special unit, created to carry out sabotage operations, owned almost all types of small arms and were distinguished by bestial cruelty: they tortured Soviet prisoners of war no worse than the Gestapo.
Although the Black Storks proudly claimed that they had never been defeated by Soviet troops, this was only partly true. And it concerned only the first years of the war. The fact is that our combat units were trained not for guerrilla warfare, but for conducting large-scale combat operations. Therefore, at first they suffered significant losses.
I had to learn by doing. And both soldiers and officers. But it was not without tragic incidents. For example, a major who bore the strange nickname Zero Eight took combat helicopters into the sky and completely destroyed a column of our allies, Babrak Karmal’s fighters, on the march. Later I learned that “zero-eight” is the density of oak. At the same time, the special forces soldiers were much better trained and, compared to such “oak” majors, looked simply brilliant.
By the way, before the Afghan war, only officers served in this unit. The decision to recruit conscript soldiers and sergeants into the ranks of special forces was made by the Soviet command already during the conflict.
TASK - FREE SEARCH
The only Kazakh sergeant of the separate 459th company of the “Cascade” detachment of the USSR GRU, Almaty resident Andrei Dmitrienko, took part in that terrible battle.
A group of Soviet special forces were ambushed, skillfully placed by "storks", while performing the most ordinary task.
Andrey Dmitrienko recalls:
We received information that some gang had destroyed a caravan of fuel tankers 40 kilometers from Kabul. According to army intelligence, this convoy was carrying a secret cargo - new Chinese rocket mortars and, possibly, chemical weapons. And gasoline was a simple cover.
Our group needed to find surviving soldiers and cargo and deliver them to Kabul. The size of a regular full-time special forces group is ten people. Moreover, the smaller the group, the easier it is to work. But this time it was decided to unite two groups under the command of Senior Lieutenant Boris Kovalev and strengthen them with experienced fighters. Therefore, trainee senior lieutenant Jan Kuskis, as well as two warrant officers Sergei Chaika and Viktor Stroganov, went on a free search.
We set out in the afternoon, lightly, in the very heat. They didn’t take any helmets or body armor. It was believed that the special forces soldier was ashamed to put on all this ammunition. It’s stupid, of course, but this unwritten rule was always strictly followed. We didn’t even take enough food with us, since we planned to return before dark.
Each of the fighters carried an AKS-74 assault rifle of 5.45 mm caliber, and the officers preferred AKM of 7.62 mm caliber. In addition, the group was armed with 4 PKMs - modernized Kalashnikov machine guns. This very powerful weapon fired the same cartridges as the Dragunov sniper rifle - 7.62 mm by 54 mm. Although the caliber is the same as the AKM, the cartridge case is longer, and therefore the powder charge is more powerful. In addition to machine guns and machine guns, each of us took with us about a dozen defensive grenades "efok" - F-1, with fragments scattering 200 meters. We despised the offensive RGD-5s for their low power and used them to kill fish.
The combined group walked along the hills parallel to the Kabul-Ghazni highway, which very much resembles the Chilik-Chundzha highway in the Almaty region.
The gentle and long climbs exhausted us much more than the steepest rocks. It seemed like there would never be an end to them. It was very difficult to walk. The rays of the high-mountain sun burned our backs, and the earth, hot as a frying pan, breathed into our faces an unbearable scorching heat.
TRAP AT KAZAJOR
At about 19:00 in the evening, the commander of the joint group, Kovalev, decided to “sit down” for the night. The fighters occupied the top of the Kazazhora hill and began to build loopholes from basalt stone - round cells half a meter high.
Andrey Dmitrienko recalls:
Each such fortification housed 5-6 people. I was in the same cell with Alexey Afanasyev, Tolkyn Bektanov and two Andreys - Moiseev and Shkolenov. Group commander Kovalev, senior lieutenant Kushkis and radiotelegraph operator Kalyagin positioned themselves two hundred and fifty meters from the main group.
When it got dark, we decided to have a cigarette, and then from the neighboring high-rises we were suddenly hit by five DShKs - Degtyarev-Shpagin heavy machine guns. This machine gun, eloquently nicknamed the “king of the mountains” in Afghanistan, was sold by the USSR to China in the seventies. During the Afghan conflict, the functionaries of the Celestial Empire were not at a loss and resold these powerful weapons to dushmans. Now we had to experience the terrible power of five large-caliber “kings” on our own skin.
Heavy 12.7 mm bullets crushed brittle basalt into dust. Looking out into the loophole, I saw a crowd of dushmans rolling towards our position from below. There were about two hundred of them. Everyone fired Kalashnikovs and shouted. In addition to the dagger fire of the DShK, the attackers were covered by the machine guns of their co-religionists hiding in shelters.
We immediately noticed that the spirits did not behave at all as they always did, but rather too professionally. While some made a rapid dash forward, others hit us with machine guns so hard that they did not allow us to raise our heads. In the darkness, we could only make out the silhouettes of the rapidly advancing Mujahideen, who looked very much like disembodied ghosts. And this sight became creepy. But even the vague outlines of running enemies were lost every now and then.
Having made the next throw, the dushmans instantly fell to the ground and pulled the dark hoods of black American Alaskans or dark green camouflage jackets over their heads. Because of this, they completely merged with the rocky soil and hid for some time. After which the attackers and coverers changed roles. At the same time, the fire did not subside for a second.
This was very strange, considering that most mujahideen were usually armed with Chinese and Egyptian-made Kalashnikov assault rifles. The fact is that Egyptian and Chinese fakes of AKM and AK-47 could not withstand prolonged shooting, as they were made of low-quality steel. Their barrels, heating up, expanded, and the bullets flew very weakly. Having fired two or three horns, such machines simply began to “spit.”
Having let the “spirits” get within a hundred meters, we struck back. After our bursts mowed down several dozen attackers, the dushmans crawled back. However, it was too early to rejoice: there were still too many enemies, and we clearly did not have enough ammunition. I would like to especially note the completely idiotic order of the USSR Ministry of Defense, according to which a fighter was given no more than 650 rounds of ammunition for one combat appearance. Looking ahead, I will say that after returning, we severely beat the foreman who gave us ammunition. So that he no longer carries out such stupid orders. And it helped!
BETRAYAL COMMAND
Realizing that our group did not have enough strength or ammunition, radiotelegraph operator Afanasyev began calling Kabul. I lay next to him and heard with my own ears the response of the operational duty officer at the garrison. This officer, when asked to send reinforcements, replied indifferently: “Get out yourself.”
Only now I understood why special forces soldiers were called disposable.
Here the heroism of Afanasyev was fully demonstrated, he turned off the walkie-talkie and shouted loudly: “Guys, hold on, help is on the way!”
This news inspired everyone except me, since I alone knew the terrible truth.
We had very little ammunition left, the group was forced to switch the fire switches to single shots. All our fighters shot perfectly, so many of the Mujahideen were hit by single fire. Realizing that they couldn’t take us head-on, the “spirits” resorted to cunning. They started shouting that we had mistakenly attacked our allies, the Tsarandoi fighters - the Afghan militia.
Knowing that the dushmans fight very poorly in daylight, warrant officer Sergei Chaika began to play for time in the hope of surviving until the morning and waiting for reinforcements. To this end, he proposed negotiations to the enemy. The Dushmans agreed.
Chaika himself went as envoys with Matvienko, Baryshkin and Rakhimov. Having brought them within 50 meters, the “spirits” suddenly opened fire. Alexander Matvienko was killed by the first burst, and Misha Baryshkin was seriously injured. I still remember how he, lying on the ground, twitches convulsively and shouts: “Guys, help! We are bleeding!”
All the fighters, as if on command, opened barrage fire. Thanks to this, Chaika and Rakhimov somehow miraculously managed to return. Unfortunately, we were unable to save Baryshkin. He lay about one hundred and fifty meters from our positions, in the open. Soon he became quiet.
UNEXPECTED BREAKTHROUGH
It is interesting that the “spirits” almost did not fire at the cell of group commander Kovalev, where he was located together with senior lieutenant Kushkis and radiotelegraph operator Kalyagin. The enemy concentrated all his forces on us. Maybe the Mujahideen decided that the three fighters weren’t going anywhere anyway? Such neglect played a cruel joke on our enemies. At that moment, when our fire was catastrophically weakened due to lack of ammunition and we could no longer hold back the onslaught of the advancing “spirits,” Kovalev, Kushkis and Kalyagin unexpectedly struck them in the rear.
Hearing the explosions of grenades and the crackle of machine gun fire, at first we even decided that reinforcements had approached us.
But then the group commander rolled into our cell along with a trainee and a radio operator. During the breakthrough, they destroyed about one and a half dozen “spirits”.
In response, the angry Mujahideen, not limited to the murderous fire of five DShKs, began to hit the cells with hand grenade launchers. From direct hits, the layered stone shattered into pieces. Many soldiers were wounded by grenade and stone fragments. Since we did not take any dressing bags with us, we had to bandage the wounds with torn vests.
Unfortunately, we did not have night sights at that time, and only Sergei Chaika had infrared binoculars. Having spotted the grenade launcher, he shouted to me: “Seven o’clock bastard! Kill him!” And I sent a short line there. I don’t know exactly how many people I killed then. But probably about 30.
This fight was not my first, and I already had to kill people. But in war, killing is not considered murder - it is simply a way to survive. Here you need to react quickly to everything and shoot very accurately.
When I left for Afghanistan, my grandfather, a machine gunner, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, told me: “Never look at the enemy, but shoot at him right away. You’ll look at him later.”
Before dispatch, political workers told us that the Mujahideen cut off the ears, noses and other organs of our killed soldiers, and gouged out their eyes.
After my arrival in Kabul, I discovered that ours also cut off the ears of the killed “spirits”. A bad example is contagious, and soon I did the same. But my passion for collecting was interrupted by a special officer who caught me on the 57th ear. All dried exhibits, of course, had to be thrown away.
DIDN'T GET INTO THE CIRCUS - ENDED UP IN SPECIAL FORCES
I confess that during that entire battle I regretted ten times that I had not remained a sergeant in Pechory.
Pechery-Pskovskie is a city near St. Petersburg, where the USSR GRU special forces training base is located.
Squad commanders, radiotelegraph operators, intelligence officers and miners were trained there.
I skillfully simulated a complete lack of hearing and, having successfully turned away from the radio, broke through to the scouts.
They prepared us very thoroughly. We constantly ran 10-kilometer cross-country races, endlessly did push-ups on parallel bars and pull-ups on the horizontal bar, shot from all types of small arms and practiced knife actions on stuffed corrugated cardboard. This cardboard best imitates the human body.
In addition, we studied subversion and trained willpower in underground labyrinths, where we were attacked by virtual tanks.
I studied so well that they even wanted to keep me there as an instructor-sergeant. To prevent this from happening, I committed several disciplinary violations and completely disappointed the course director. He waved his hand at me and said that all the slobs who are not accepted into the circus or prison end up in the special forces.
Besides the fact that I was eager to go to Afghanistan, I had absolutely no relationship with a certain Sergeant Peretyatkevich. He, being a candidate for master of sports in freestyle wrestling, lost a wrestling match to me. After that he began to find fault with me and “snitch” on me to the commanders. Therefore, when on April 27, 1984, we, two intelligence officers and five radio telegraph operators, found ourselves in Kabul, I was simply happy.
“Black Stork” or “Black Storks” sabotage and fighter elite detachment of the Afghan Mujahideen, the leader of which, according to various sources, was Khattab, Hekmatyar and Osama bin Laden. According to other sources, Pakistani special forces. According to the third version, “Black Storks” are those people who committed a crime before Allah: they killed, stole, etc. They had to atone for their guilt before Allah only with the blood of infidels. There was information that among the “storks” there were people of European appearance with punk hairstyles who traveled in Isuzu jeeps. Each “stork” simultaneously performed the duties of a radio operator, sniper, miner, etc. In addition, the fighters of this special unit, created to carry out sabotage operations, owned almost all types of small arms.
Addition
"Black Stork" special forces unit, was created during the Afghan War of 1979-1989. by a number of intelligence services of Pakistan and other interested countries from among the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign mercenaries. The members of the Black Stork were well-trained military specialists, professionally proficient in various types of weapons, communications equipment, and knowledge of topographic maps. They knew the terrain well and were unpretentious in everyday life. They were based mainly in the hard-to-reach provinces of the Afghan highlands bordering Pakistan and Iran, at the bases and fortified areas of the Afghan Mujahideen. They took an active part in organizing ambushes on units of the Soviet troops. A number of such clashes became a difficult page in the history of the Afghan war.
- Death of the 1st battalion of the 66th Motorized Rifle Brigade in the Khara gorge of Kunar province on May 11, 1980.
- Death of the Maravar company in the province of Kunar of the 1st company of the 334th special forces detachment of the 15th ObrSpN GRU General Staff April 21, 1985
- Battle of the 4th company of the 149th motorized rifle regiment near the village of Konyak in the province of Kunar May 25, 1985
- Assault on the Kokari-Sharshari fortified area in Herat province on August 18-26, 1986.
- Battle at height 3234 near the village of Alikheil, Paktia province
The “Black Stork” detachment was equipped with a special black uniform, with stripes of this special. divisions. - With rare exceptions, all members of the Black Stork were adherents of fundamental Islam. Mostly natives of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. Very often, during an intense battle, flaunting their own fearlessness, the “Black Storks” stood up to their full height in order to fire a shell from a grenade launcher, or fire a long burst. By this action, as well as by reading over a horn loudspeaker during the battle, suras from the holy book “Storks” were expected to demoralize and break the morale of the Soviet soldiers. Special bases for the professional training of “Black Storks” were located mainly in Pakistan and Iran.