Afghan special forces soldiers who fought alongside US troops and later fled to Iran after the chaotic US withdrawal last year, they were recruited by the Russian army to fight in Ukraine, three former Afghan generals said Associated Press.
Sources say the Russians intend to lure thousands of former Afghan elite commandos into a “foreign legion” with offers constant payments of $ 1,500 per month and the promise of safe places for them and their families to avoid being deported to their country, something many believe would be death at the hands of the Taliban.
“They don’t want to go to fight, but they have no choice” said one of the generals, Abdul Raof Arghandiwal, adding that the dozen commandos in Iran with whom he communicated via text message fear deportation more.
“They ask me: ‘Do you have a solution? What should we do? If we go back to Afghanistan, the Taliban will kill us”’ He added.
Arghandiwal said the recruitment is handled by the mercenary force of the Russian Wagner Group. Another general, Hibatullah Alizai, the last Afghan army chief before the Taliban took power, said the recruiting effort was also aided by a former Afghan Special Forces commander who lived in Russia and speaks Russian.
Warnings that went unheeded
The Russian recruitment comes months after warnings from US soldiers who fought with Afghan special forces that the Taliban intended to kill them and that they could join US enemies in order to survive or because they were angry at their former ally.
A Congressional GOP briefing in August specifically warned of the danger that Afghan commandos – trained by the US Navy’s SEAL task force and Army Green Berets – could end up giving information on the tactics of the American forces the Islamic State group, Iran or Russia, or fight for them.
“We didn’t get these guys out like we promised and now it backfires,” said Michael Mulroy, a retired CIA officer who served in Afghanistan. He added that Afghan commandos are highly skilled and intense fighters. I don’t want on any battlefield e less fighting the Ukrainians”.
It is estimated that between 20,000 and 30,000 members of the Afghan special forces they fought with the Americans during the two-decade war and only a few hundred high-ranking officers were flown when the US military withdrew from Afghanistan.
Since many of the Afghan commandos did not work directly for the US military, they were not eligible for special US visas.
“They were the ones who fought until the last minute. And they never, never, ever talked to the Taliban. They never negotiated,” Alizai said. “Leaving them behind was the biggest mistake“.
Source: AP
Source: Clarin
