Not so long
ago, Hunafa published a Jihad story, called
'Fight in the forest'. A
vivid, thrilling and enlightening testimony. In one word it's a
must read. Insha'Allah, this modest translation will give some
insight of what the fight in the forest looks like.
In the Name of
Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
The story I
decided to tell you is known to many brothers in the Province
Ghalghaycho (aka Ingushetia). In my opinion, it is very
instructive and can be useful for the Mujahideen, as it shows
the experience of the Mujahideen of the older generation.
Those who know
this story can add or correct it if I'm wrong in something or if
something is left unsaid.
These events
took place in the mountainous regions of Ingushetia, in the
spring of 2004. When a small detachment of one of the combat
Jamaat of Ghalghaycho, numbering up to fifteen people, under the
temporary (the group was usually subordinated to another Emir)
leadership of a well-known and experienced Emir, Saif al-Islam
al-Masri (may Allah accept his Martyrdom), moved from the plains
to the mountains near the village of Alkun.
The goals of
the campaign were exploration and preparation for combat
operations in the mountains on the border between Ghalghaycho
and Nokhchicho.
After a march
of about twenty kilometer's long, Saif al-Islam chose the place
to set up the base. In the group there were other experienced
Mujahideen, and some Emirs of subunits, so Saif al-Islam was
always advised and was often discussing the various options with
the brothers.
Quickly, he
spotted a place for Ribaat (a surveillance position) [I
guess that all Muslims readers are aware of what Ribaat is, and
of what benefits there are in it. In the Muslim's Sahih, Salmaan
al-Faarisi narrated that the Prophete (pbhu) said:
"The guarding (Ribaat) of a night and day in the path of
Allah is greater than the fasting and praying of a month; and
whoever dies whilst in Ribaat, dies a Mujaahid, and he is given
his reward from paradise and is protected from the two
tribulators (the angels who come at death)"], in the
immediate vicinity of the base, where the approaches to the base
could be watched properly. After having set the time and the
order of change of the Ribaat, he studied the construction of
the base itself.
First, he took
up engineering equipment, in order to set defensive weapon
emplacements. To this end, he took with him some of the most
experienced Mujahideen, and together they departed from the
base, about a hundred meters away, and then he offered to
organize an attack on its own base (in order to spot the
weaknesses in the defenses).
The brothers
began with the most convenient and concealed approach routes to
the base, then they examined the places from where the base
could be seen and where there was an opportunity to engage
direct fire on it, they also noted the most convenient firing
positions for the attackers and the natural covers (pit, large
stones, massive trees). Also, from the standpoint of the
attackers, they identified the most vulnerable and lesser
defended points.
Returning to
the base, taking into account the possible positions of the
attackers and the vulnerabilities of the base, they determined
where to set up defensive positions. Divided in pairs, the
Mujahideen started to dug up trenches and then, camouflaged
them.
After that,
Saif al-Islam assigned the positions between the Mujahideen of
the group, and ordered that, in case of attack, each one should
quickly join its position. Also, he indicated to each Mujahid
his firing sector and the possible enemy positions, on which he
should shoot in case of attack.
Then, all
joined the shelter, except a Mujahid who was cooking the dinner.
As for the
construction, a shelter requires a lot of trunks, branches and
twigs, but the Emir forbade to cut them down near the base, as
this could unmask the location of the base to eventual air
reconnaissance's. In addition, he ordered to cover the traces of
fresh cut (carcasses of cut trees, sawdust, etc...) on
the place where the wood have been harvested, in order to
prevent a detection from the enemy. After the first rain, the
place has been washed from all the sawdust.
The Mujahideen
were forbidden to leave their weapons, all the things (apart
from the wet things after being washed) should always be packed
in backpacks, the "unloading" was allowed only for the night,
during the sleep. Everything was prepared so that a Mujahid was
ready to leave the base with the loads he was given, within ten
seconds, at any time of the day.
Many of the
brothers slept with their guns and backpacks (the grenades were
pulled out and laid next to the backpacks), and as they said
later, by two or three days they were fully accustomed to this
and did not feel any discomfort.
The base was
developed, and the life went on as usual. On daily basis, the
Mujahideen were carrying out reconnaissance patrols which were
necessary for the base's safety, and in addition, the lesser
experienced brothers learned how to move properly (in the
woods), the correct way to watch and listen in the woods,
the target areas, etc...
One day, Saif
al-Islam noticed that the dinner was coinciding with the time of
the evening prayers (Maghreb), and sometimes was
stretching till dusk. He ordered to cook the dinner earlier, so
that all (the dinner and the cleaning of the dishes) would be
finished before the evening prayer, since the infidels often
stage attacks in the pre-dawn and twilight.
A few days
later, it was a Monday or Thursday [The days of fasting beside
the Ramadan month, as mentioned in the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbhu)],
some of the brothers were fasting, including Hamza. That
evening, as it had been previously established by the Emir, the
dinner was ready an hour before the evening prayer. Located at
the base, Hamza proposed to replace Yusuf at the Ribaat post, as
the breaking time of his fasting has not come yet. Thus, Yusuf
could dine before its food becomes cold, and then return to the
Ribaat, just in time for the fasting break of Hamza.
Saif al-Islam
always finished his dinner before the others, and that evening
he had already cleaned his dishes. He said to the brothers to
finish (what they were doing), as it was pratically the
time of the Maghreb prayer. At that moment, when he got up and
went to the shelter, a light noise was heard from the Ribaat
position, and almost simultaneously about ten shots of automatic
weapons were heard. Literally at the same instant, Saif al-Islam
seized his "Stechkin" [A 9mm Russian pistol, see it
here] from his holster,
did a full turn toward the enemy, and shouted to everyone to
take positions.
Everybody ran
like a lightning in the trenches, as they learned to do so
during the alert exercises. Began the battle. The firing were
dense, the infidels were using machine guns, submachine guns and
grenade launchers. The Mujahideen, each being in its own
position, answered the same. And only two were rushing between
the trenches: Emir Saif al-Islam and Hanif the rocket launcher
(RPG-7) gunner.
The Emir,
jumping out from trench to trench, checking whether there was
any wounded, was repeatedly reminding everyone his firing
sector, constantly urging for heavy fire, because it's
psychologically difficult to keep firing at an invisible enemy.
In one of the trenches a Mujahid said to Saif al-Islam:
"Where to shoot? There's no one in
sight..." - "Shoot, all the same !" - he replied.
For Hanif, it
was its first battle, but no one could believe it, and certainly
not the infidels. Very tall, the thin Hanif, after two shots,
jumped out from its entrenchment and started to run across the
base with its RPG-7 . By his shots he "silenced" an enemy
machine gun and several other enemy weapons emplacements. In
this fight, Hanif made seven aimed shots with its rocket
launcher, accompanying each shot by the cry:
"Bismillaah! Allahu Akbar! "
The battle
lasted about ten minutes. Several times, the infidels tried to
approach even closer to the base, to surround it and discover
the weaknesses in the defense of the Mujahideen. But the intense
and well-organized fire of the soldiers of Allah did not gave
them this opportunity. Frequently, cries were heard from the
infidel's side, it became clear that, by the will of Allah,
another Mujahid's bullet achieved its purpose.
The density and
aimed fire of infidels was also high. One bullet made six holes
in a Mujahid, by perforating his bent arm, on both side.
In the end, the
attack bogged down, and the infidels, while keeping shooting,
began to withdraw. The Mujahideen continued to repel them out
with automatic firing. When the shooting subsided, the
Mujahideen packed their bags and quickly left the base. Hanif,
the RPG gunner, tried to carry on himself the body of Hamza for
a while, but it was critically slowing down the group, and it
has been necessary to leave the body of the Shaheed.
After
retreating a few kilometers away from the base, the Mujahideen
stopped. They needed to rest and examine two wounded among them.
By the grace of
Allah, the injuries were mild, none any vital organs nor bones
were affected. Although one was hit in the groin, and another,
as said earlier, had six holes in his body! After washing and
bandaging the wounds, the Mujahideen kept going. They heard the
noise of helicopters which were firing on their abandoned base.
It is worth
noting that the infidel troops never engages in a battle, if not
confident in their numerical and positional advantage. For
example, if they are ambushed, they do not engage in fight,
instead, while firing back, they retreat and await
reinforcements, since they don't know the number of their
opponent's positions.
However, in
this battle, as it turned out later, despite their numerical
superiority, the infidels lost three killed and five wounded.
These heavy losses forced them to retreat and call for backup.
Due to the
foresight of an experienced Emir, the infidels did not caught
our brethren unawares. In addition, an important success factor
was the fact that Hamza (who was in the Ribaat position),
while being mortally wounded, managed to shoot, and only Allah
knows whether its bullets reached a target, but the main thing
he did, is that he warned the brothers in the base by doing
this.
Almost all the
brothers who participated in that battle, gave their lives in
this way, in the following years, including Emir Saif al-Islam
(Shaheed Insha'Allah in Dagestan, on Feb. 02, 2010).
May Allah
increase their acts His way, grant them Paradise and give
patience to their relatives and friends.
Praise be to
Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
Huzaifa
Targimho
Kavkaz
Center + Kavkaz-Jihad Blog
