Former US-Trained Afghan Commandos Recruited by Russia, Iran

Some former members of Afghanistan’s particular forces who fled to Iran after the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan are actually being recruited to struggle for Russia in Ukraine and for Iran in Yemen, two former senior Afghan safety officers instructed VOA.

The previous Afghan military chief, Normal Haibatullah Alizai, mentioned Tehran is utilizing the vulnerability of former Afghan forces now dwelling within the nation to recruit them to strengthen the ranks of Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“When former Afghan navy members go to immigration bureaus in Iran to increase their visas, they’re instructed to go to Yemen to struggle in assist of the Houthis,” Alizai instructed VOA.

Mohammad Farid Ahmadi, the previous commander of Afghanistan’s elite Nationwide Military Commando Corps, instructed VOA that former Afghan particular forces now are engaged in “six vital areas” of the world: Nagorno-Karabakh, Ukraine, Yemen, Iran, Syria and Russia, however “in small teams.”

Afghan commandos who had been skilled by the U.S. and NATO are thought of probably the most skilled former navy personnel in Afghanistan. Earlier than the autumn of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the commandos had been led many of the complicated fight operations all through the nation.

The Related Press reported that Russia is now additionally looking for to recruit former Afghan particular forces in Iran to struggle alongside their navy in Ukraine by providing them “$1,500-a-month funds and guarantees of secure havens for themselves and their households.”

Officers with the Russian embassy in Washington and Iran’s United Nations representatives haven’t responded to emailed questions on whether or not their governments are recruiting former Afghan armed forces and commandos. The Related Press reported that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the top of the Wagner Group, dismissed claims of recruiting former Afghan troopers as “loopy nonsense.”

However pressuring Afghans to struggle will not be a brand new tactic. In 2016, Human Rights Watch mentioned Iran was utilizing Afghan refugees as troopers to struggle in Syria.

Taliban menace

Former Military Commando Corps chief Ahmadi mentioned there have been about 30,000 commandos serving in Afghanistan earlier than the Taliban took management of Kabul.

“Now a giant majority of Afghan former commandos are inside Afghanistan, disguising and dwelling in hiding,” mentioned Ahmadi, including that “numerous them had been detained and tortured by the Taliban.”

In line with a report printed a number of months in the past by the U.S. Workplace of the Particular Inspector Normal for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), former Afghan commandos who’ve stayed within the nation have “nearly actually” joined the fledgling opposition group often called the Nationwide Resistance Entrance or reside in hiding out of concern of being killed or imprisoned by the Taliban.

Ahmadi mentioned a number of the former troopers had been held and tortured in Taliban prisons. However he mentioned after tribal elders intervened, many had been launched after they paid cash and vowed by no means to talk of their remedy in jail.

Ahmadi says Afghan particular forces really feel betrayed by the nation’s former political leaders and he describes many now as “determined, hopeless and weak.”

He additionally urged officers in Washington to attempt to assist these Afghans who fought shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. forces for the previous 20 years.

“The U.S. ought to fulfill its guarantees and never let these forces be employed as mercenaries,” Ahmadi mentioned.

Washington ‘in a troublesome place’

At a Washington information briefing on October 31, State Division spokesperson Edward Value responded to questions in regards to the recruitment of Afghan commandos by saying, “I’m conscious of these reviews. I’m not conscious, although, that we now have been able to substantiate that such Afghan commandos have really been enlisted into President Putin’s conflict.”

Rand Company coverage researcher Jason Campbell mentioned that restricted U.S. attain in elements of Iran and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan the place former Afghan commandos dwell places Washington, logistically talking, “in a troublesome place.”

“It’s actually a tough choice for the U.S. to make by way of making an attempt to take steps to make sure the security of all these hundreds of commandos, notably in mild of current developments, the place, as we mentioned, actually Russia however [also] different states would possibly see a chance right here to recruit a few of these … seasoned and well-trained fighters who discover themselves dwelling in determined circumstances,” Campbell mentioned.

Invoice Roggio, a senior fellow on the Washington-based Basis for the Protection of Democracies, instructed VOA that the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan created this drawback.

“This is among the unexpected penalties of the U.S. disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. We left behind tens of hundreds of extremely skilled Afghan troopers. These are the commandos who’re fairly succesful. They had been on the frontlines within the struggle towards the Taliban,” he mentioned.

Roggio added, “Some [former Afghan commandos] have gone into Iran, however by Russia opening up the chance for them to presumably get Russian citizenship and telling them that you simply struggle for us in Ukraine, we are going to enable you and assist your loved ones. That’s fairly interesting.”

Lina Rozbih contributed to this report. This story originated in VOA’s Afghan service.