PART 12
Familiarity with the Terrain

The urban guerrilla's best ally is the terrain, and because of this he must know his local area and the area of operations like the back of his hand.

The urban guerrilla utilizes the terrain as an ally, making intelligent use of rubble-strewn slum areas, high and low points, abandoned buildings, shrubbery, secret passages -- taking advantage of all these features to conduct his operation, escape, retreat, take cover, and hide out.

Dead ends, and narrow alleys, streams, streets under repair, police check points, restricted zones, and off-limits streets, entrances to and exits from tunnels that the enemy can close off, bridges that can be crossed, check-points controlled by police, lights and traffic signals -- all these must be thoroughly recorded and studied in order to avoid fatal errors.

Our problem is to pass through and to know where to hide, operating in terrain in which the enemy becomes bewildered through his own ignorance.

The urban guerrilla familiar with the avenues, streets, alleys, the ins-and-outs, and hidden corners of urban centers, its underground passages, its pipe and sewer systems, can pass safely through irregular and difficult neighborhoods unfamiliar to the police, thereby springing a surprise in a fatal ambush or sudden trap.

Guerrillas who know the terrain can travel by foot, on a bicycle, in an automobile, jeep or truck, and never be trapped. Individual groups of guerrillas can follow different routes, reuniting at an hour and place determined beforehand. in this way police encirclement is evaded following a guerrilla operation, disorienting the enemy with unprecedented audacity.

The terrain of the urban guerrilla presents the police with a labyrinth that becomes an insoluble problem for pursuit. The urban guerrilla forces the police to try to arrest someone they cannot see, to try to repress someone they cannot catch, and to try to close in on someone they cannot find.

Experience proves to us that the ideal urban guerrilla is one who is a native of the city in which he operates. He is intimately familiar with its streets, with local neighborhoods, transportation, and other peculiarities.

The urban guerrilla who arrives in a city from elsewhere does not know the little secret places, and is a weak link, endangering operations conducted in an area about which he knows nothing. We avoid grave errors by ensuring that each member of an urban guerrilla fire team becomes familiar with the layout of the streets and neighborhoods of the city within which he operates.


© Copyright 1999 Patrick Beherec (or original author)
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