US-trained special forces Afghan veterans, abandoned by the US and Western states when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban, say they are receiving offers to join the Russian military, Foreign Policy reports, citing its sources in the Afghani Army and intelligence.
According to the publication, between 20,000 and 30,000 Afghan volunteer commandos remained in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. After the Taliban came to power, only a few hundred senior officers were evacuated. The rest of the soldiers were forced to flee the country or hide in Afghanistan to avoid capture and execution.
According to FP, the US spent nearly $90 billion to train Afghan commandos. The paper kits that the forces were generally incompetent and handed the country over to the Taliban in a matter of weeks, but were highly respected because they were trained by the US Navy Seals and the British Special Air Service.
Now the Afghan commandos are still hoping to be evacuated to the United States and Britain, while at the same time they “remain easy prey” for Russian recruiters. FP quoted a former high-ranking Afghan security official, who would not reveal his name, as saying that the inclusion of the commandos in the Russian armed forces would “change the rules of the game” on the battlefield in Ukraine.
A former officer of the Afghan special forces told reporters that the Wagner PMC is behind the recruitment of Russian Afghan commandos. A former captain of the commandos told that Iran is helping with recruitment, as well: the commandos travel to Russia through Iran.
Some former Afghan commandos, according to FP, have received through WhatsApp and Signal an offer to go to war in Ukraine as part of a Russian “foreign legion.” According to the source, up to 10,000 ex-commandos want to take up this offer.
