Kadiz

Gardez was the site of a brief siege in Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s account of the Afghan war: he joined a unit commanded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, and the city fell three weeks after his arrival. The episode also marks a turning point in his stated purpose, as the struggle against the communist government gave way to fighting among Mujahideen factions.

Setting in the Afghan Campaign

In early 1992, with Afghanistan’s communist government on the verge of collapse, Slahi returned to the country after completing military training and resuming his electrical-engineering studies. He joined Haqqani’s unit as it laid siege to Gardez. The account places the city within a campaign that was changing even as it continued: the original enemy was losing power, while the factions that had fought against it began to contend with one another.

The Siege and Fall

Gardez fell with little resistance three weeks after Slahi arrived. Kabul fell soon afterward. The sequence is concise but consequential: the capture of Gardez came amid the collapse of the communist government, while Kabul’s fall was followed by fighting among the Mujahideen themselves over who would govern. The city’s fall is therefore recorded not as an isolated military victory, but as part of a rapid change in the character of the conflict.

A Turning Point in Slahi’s Account

Slahi explained that he had gone to fight the aggressors, particularly the communists who had forbidden his fellow Muslims to practice their religion. Once the factions began fighting one another for political power, he said he saw no reason to continue. He decided to return rather than fight other Muslims, and the account identifies this shift as the end of his commitment to al-Qaeda. Gardez thus anchors a transition between the campaign Slahi said he had joined and the internecine struggle he rejected.