Afghanistan is the land of dust bowl like valleys sitting right next to each other. These dust or dirt bowl like topography has hampered transportation and development since the known history.
The same dirt bowls have isolated Afghans so they never developed as a coherent nation. The result has been long running, and bloody feuds between Pushtoons, Hazaras, Tajiks, and Uzbeks.
Pushtoons being the largest but the most backward group, is the hated target of the other minorities like Tajiks, and Uzbeks. However Shia-Hazaras are the silent minority that has suffered enormously at the hands of Sunnis particularly village-idiot-Sunni Mullahs of Pushtoon origin.
Ethnic rivalries, mixed with abject poverty, and an outdated tribalism has resulted in a weird sense of history and geography. That somehow Afghanistan is un-conquerable.
That feeling of invincibility was shattered first time in the known history by none other than Soviet Kommies. How did they achieve this feat?
Well they brought in gunship helicopters once their land-forces failed to control the tribals. These gunships, with a pack of transport choppers carrying 50 or so elite guards in each unit was the brain child of Ruskie generals who in turn learned from American techniques in Vietnam.
These Ruskie units successfully destroyed Afghan resistance during 1985. Dirt bowl valleys that served as traditional defense of Afghan tribes now became the hunting grounds of Ruskie commandos.
They would land in a valley, round off the resistance, destroy it and move to the next valley.
Afghan geography now prevented other tribes from coming to help the one in trouble. Seeing the imminent death of Afghan struggle, Pakistan with the help of US and UK, trained and supplied anti-helicopter arsenal. This arsenal mainly consisted of US stingers, UK blow-pipers, and the use of RPGs.
In many cases, Pak army deployed their own soldiers in the anti-helicopter missions.
Pakistani strategy was so effective that Kommies lost their air-superiority and suffered the ultimate defeat.
The same helicopter gunship based approach is being used successfully by the Americans and Pak army to suppress unruly tribals. Unfortunately many Afghan Kommies haven’t learned their lesson. They still insist on the Afghan invincibility and thus being hounded by the US and Pak gunships.
The myth of tribal invincibility is finally shattered!