Russia is recruiting mercenaries from among the former servicemen of Afghanistan
The former Afghan special operations forces (SOF) are now fighting in Ukraine in the ranks of the Russian invasion forces. They have serious combat experience and are well trained, having undergone training by the US and allied instructors. However, after last year's withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, the experienced fighters were left without a job and abandoned to fend for themselves.
And now Russia is using this, recruiting them for the war with Ukraine with Iran assisting in the search for military personnel. The War Zone reported about this with reference to the ex-commander of the Afghan forces Haibatullah Alizai. The Afghan mercenaries recruited by Russia are among dozens of thousands of former Afghan soldiers, including about 5,000 ex-SOF (Special Operations Forces) soldiers, who fled to Iran last year.
Many of them are offered an income and security for themselves and their families, Haibatullah Alizai said. According to Alizai, who was the commander of the SOF of Afghanistan before taking over the entire Army, former Afghan troops in Iran who are preparing to fight on behalf of Russia, told him that some were already in Ukraine. He said he did not know how many.
"A group of them has already deployed to Ukraine," Alizai said.
Special operations forces of Afghanistan
Having former Afghan troops fight for Russia in Ukraine, especially SOF, is a big win for Moscow, said Alizai. "These troops know all the Western tactics," said Alizai. "They know the technical stuff used on the ground and they know how to fight because they are very experienced in the last 20 years. The Special Forces were one of the forces that were fighting every day in all parts of Afghanistan in any direction, any situation and under any weather conditions," Alizai said.
Information that former Afghan soldiers are being recruited for the war in Ukraine has been released by another Western publication this week. Haibatullah Alizai's words are actually confirmed by Foreign Policy magazine. A retired Green Beret lieutenant colonel who had worked closely with Afghan forces, confirmed to journalists of the publication that former Afghan soldiers were being recruited to fight in Ukraine.
However, he could not confirm that they were already there. He said his former Afghan SOF sources informed that Iranians and Russians "are recruiting the special forces and commandos in Iran to send war to Ukraine on behalf of Russia." They are trying to bribe people with promises of security, because out of all the Afghan volunteers, only a few hundred senior officers managed to evacuate to Western countries. The rest do not understand how to live on and where they will be safe.
"This vulnerable and desperate segment of the Afghan special operations population seems to be their next target. By providing the displaced commando families with housing, medical care, and food, they are attempting to coerce this highly trained and vulnerable population to do their bidding abroad," says an anonymous interlocutor of the publication. Haibatullah Alizai, the ex-commander of the Afghan forces, said he first learned about the recruiting efforts about two weeks ago:
"We got some information that the Iranians are recruiting the former Special Forces commandos, the police special units, and the [National Directorate of Security] special units who already were in Iran. They escaped from the Taliban because they were being hunted in Afghanistan and put in prison. So they had to flee to Iran."
In total, he estimates, about 40,000 former Afghan troops fled to Iran. The idea of sending them to war again is not new. Because Iran started recruiting fighters back in November last year.
The former Afghan soldiers were then told they would have to fight in Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthis are waging a brutal war with a Saudi-led coalition. "I was getting calls from some of our soldiers and officers in Iran that when they were going to extend their visas, the immigration office would say, 'hey, we will extend your visa on one condition. If you go to Yemen for our fight, and fight against the Western interests there and fight alongside Houthi fighters there," Alizai said.
In recent weeks, Alizai said he had received more calls from former Afghan troops in Iran, seeking advice about recruitment efforts on behalf of Russia and its war in Ukraine. Those troops are being recruited by the Russian embassy in Iran, working with the Wagner Group mercenary organization and Iranian intelligence, said Alizai. Those former troops are being offered about £1,500 per month plus security for their families.
Sometimes relatives are offered to be taken to Russia or other countries, so that they are guaranteed safety. These efforts are not limited to ex-Afghan soldiers in Iran. Alizai says troops still in Afghanistan are also recruiting.
Upon agreeing to fight in Ukraine, the former Afghan troops are taken to a facility in the Iranian city of Mashhad, where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps maintains a training facility. Getting details about what kind of training is taking place, or an exact number of former Afghan troops there is difficult, said Alizai, because once they arrive at the training facility, their phones are shut off. However, the military still reveals certain numbers.
He received this information from former military personnel from Iran. It seems that Russia is primarily trying to recruit personnel, thus selecting approximately 3,000 former Afghan SOF troops to fight in Ukraine. And this figure will likely increase to as high as 5,000 later on.
Russia's recruitment of former Afghan servicemen with the help of Iranian special services is taking place against the background of growing cooperation between the two countries in the defense sphere and the transfer of modern Iranian drones to Russia. Also, according to Reuters, citing two Iranian diplomats and officials, Iran has promised to provide Russia with short- and medium-range missiles, as well as additional drones. Tehran and Moscow made this agreement on October 6 during the visit of the Iranian leadership to the Russian Federation.
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