The Mazar-i-Sharif air base controlled by Uzbek leader Gen Rashid Dostum in 1992
Long before the mighty United States of America had set foot in Afghanistan, the Indian Air Force had spread its wings into the war-torn nation and carried out a successful aid and rescue mission involving the Indian Ambassador and members of the diplomatic corps from at least 20 different nations, including various ambassadors.
The year was 1992 and cable TV had just been introduced at the Agra Air Force Station. On the BBC we could see a lot of military aircrafts taking off and landing with anti-heat seeking flares firing at regular intervals at Kabul airport. This was the only impression of Afghanistan those days.
Suddenly one afternoon we were told to proceed to Delhi and report to Air Headquarters for a briefing as we had to proceed to Afghanistan on an emergency mission. During the briefing we were informed that our destination was to be Mazar-e-Sharif. The person entrusted to briefing us had never heard of the place and was clearly having difficulty in locating Mazar-e-Sharif on the map of Afghanistan. Those days we were deprived of the luxury of GPS and other such gadgets.
The intelligence briefing, we got was that you have read newspapers and watched TV, we did the same. Therefore, your awareness is as good as mine. We were told that we were taking medicine and life-saving drugs, nothing else.
Two AN-32s from Agra were detailed for this trip. My aircraft was the lead aircraft with the other aircraft 15 minutes behind us. After taking off from Delhi we entered Pakistan airspace for the first time in our lives. It was a thrilling moment. All through Pakistan we were under their radar coverage but as we exited the Pakistani airspace and entered Afghanistan airspace there was a dreadful silence on the frequency. Not a word was being spoken on the Kabul frequency. A kind of dread set in us as never before had we encountered such silence on radio.
Being welcomed by Uzbek Militia soldiers on landing at Mazar-i-Sharif
We tried contacting Kabul but could not. It was only upon landing that we came to know that Kabul ATC was destroyed, the silence was because of that. Moreover, there was heavy fighting going on in the region and American supplied missiles were being fired at any aircraft crossing the region by trigger happy Mujahideen. In fact, foreseeing this eventuality, we had loaded anti-missile flares on the aircraft, though I am not convinced how useful it would have been had the moment of truth been in our face!
It was a clear day, and we could see the Hindukush Mountain ranges. The view was mesmerizing. As we crossed these ranges and approached our destination we could hear a lot of radio traffic, which was in the local language. When we tried to get in touch with the Mazar ATC, the controller couldn’t speak a word of English and we had to do an unassisted approach with only legacy instruments to rely on.
There was also a thick layer of cloud below us and we couldn't spot the airstrip. Behind us were the 18,000+ feet mountains running east to west and in front of us was Tajikistan, where we didn’t have permission to fly to. In the narrow gap that existed I dived the aircraft hoping not to collide into an invisible object and broke clouds at 9,000 ft. Now the airfield was visible, and we saw the fighters belonging to the faction led by General Abdul Rashid Dostum, the Uzbek leader, were taking off and coming straight towards our aircraft essentially sandwiching our aircraft before flying into the sky.
The Indian crew with the Afghani soldiers on landing at the air base
For us landing was inevitable because we only had 15 minutes of fuel left. Upon landing General Rashid Dosutm was personally at the airport to receive us. He gave us a typically warm welcome with a great number of hugs, a clear indication of the warmth Afghans had for the Indians in their heart. It was after landing that we were informed that the two SU-22 fighter aircrafts that had just passed us were on a mission to bomb Herat where intense fighting between the Mujahideen and the resistance forces was ongoing.
In the meantime, as the Mujahideen advance towards Kabul had gained steam, the diplomatic corps of numerous countries were awaiting their evacuation. It was then that we were informed that the Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ambassador Vijay Nambiar, would be returning with us in the evening, onboard the An-32s. The only member of the press accompanying us was Mr. Surya Gangadharan who had become quite friendly with us and was filming the events taking place, which were at a much later date aired on the NDTV produced program – The World This Week.
After we had refueled and were in the process of taking off, we discovered that one of the generators powering the Auxiliary Power Unit of the aircraft had developed a snag. Luckily for us, General Dostum agreed to lend us a fully functional generator from the Russian planes his air force was using. Since the replacement was going to take time, we were told to prepare for a night halt in the war-ravaged country! Since the communication was poor, we could not inform the AHQ and our families about the change in plans and everyone was unsure as to what had happened and where we were.
In the meantime, Ambassador Nambiar informed the diplomatic corps in Kabul that help had arrived from India and anyone willing to be evacuated had to reach Mazar-e-Sharif via the Salong pass.
Our boarding arrangements had been made in Russian style barracks near the General Headquarters of Dostum, which was about 30-40 kms from the airport. As we made our journey through the city under heavy guard of the local militia touting Kalashnikovs, the hasty retreat of the Russians a few years ago was clearly visible. Heavy equipment such as tanks, artillery guns, military vehicles, which had become unserviceable during the withdrawal, were lined up on both sides of the road, which had developed potholes as roads meant for vehicles were weathering the weight of Russian war machines.
One of the guards entrusted with our security in the war zone was an Afghani boy, barely 16 years of age. Each time the bus hit a pothole; his AK-47 would invariably point towards me. Not trusting the maintenance of those weapons, I would nudge the barrel upwards, and he would give me a reassuring look that all was well. The smile of that boy and the indomitable spirit he exhibited remains etched in my heart even today. This continued till we reached our destination and all of us breathed a sigh of relief.
The author (in the centre holding a camera) with the security cover and Afghan children at their boarding house
The evening’s dinner sans alcohol was a grand affair organized by General Dostum in our honour and trooped out to our barracks to prepare for the next day but not before savoring some fauji Old Monk that we had carried along in case of any contingency. I am convinced Surya won’t forget the evening as well.
Complying with the entry and exit rules of Pakistani airspace, we had planned to depart the next day in the evening. Since the nature of the mission had changed dramatically from an aid mission to rescue mission, we had not prepared and carried only two VIPs seats on board. But as I and the rest of the crew were about to enter the aircraft, we were taken aback at the sight of the sheer crowd of diplomats that had gathered to board the aircraft.
I knew that onboarding them would mean testing the limits of the Russian AN32 aircraft to the hilt, but having flown the aircraft extensively we knew that the machine wouldn’t let us down. As soldiers, we are trained and conditioned to ‘never leaving a man behind’ and decided to take a calculated risk. The scene inside the aircraft resembled that of a crowded DTC bus or Delhi metro compartment where passengers stand holding the bars connected to the roof supporting themselves.
Once we took off and reached cruising altitude, I asked for the flight manifest and it was only then that the whole gravity of whom we had evacuated dawned upon me. Against the names of the passengers was prefixed either Ambassador or First Secretary and on-board the aircraft were the diplomatic staffs of all ASEAN countries and many other important nations.
Upon landing in Delhi, the Air Force side of the airport was crammed with limousines to take the VIPs back to their respective embassies. All of them expressed their gratitude to the crew for what we had done for them. None seemed to mind the discomfort of the wooden benches of a military aircraft without any provisions that men in their position are accustomed to.
Seeing the developments and the present-day evacuation, history has indeed come full circle for veterans like me, who have had any form of association with Afghanistan.
(The author is an Indian Air Force Veteran and an alumnus of Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun. Apart from Afghanistan, he has been a part of IPKF operations in Sri Lanka, Op Cactus in Maldives and the Kargil war. Post his premature retirement from the IAF, he continues to fly in corporate aviation.)