The Afghan National Army Commando Corps (formerly ANA Commando Brigade; ANA Commando Battalion) was a

commando Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...

force of the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

(ANA). During the

Taliban insurgency {{Infobox military conflict , partof = the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the Afghanistan conflict , image = 2021 Taliban Offensive.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Map of the 2021 Taliban of ...

, the commandos comprised 7% of the Afghan National Security Forces but conducted 70% to 80% of the fighting. The unit structure was based on the

75th Ranger Regiment The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as Army Rangers, is the U.S. Army's premier light infantry unit and special operations force within the United States Army Special Operations Command. The regiment is headquartered at Fort Benning, G ...

. After the Fall of Kabul and the collapse of the ANA and

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic that ruled Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan interim (2001–2002) and transitional (2002–2004) administrations, which were form ...

, the Commandos have been virtually dissolved.

Selection and training

The first Commando battalion was formed from existing infantry battalions. In early 2007, a program began to take one conventional infantry ''kandak'' (

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions ...

) from each of the regional ANA corps, give them special training and equipment, and reorganize them based on the

of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

. Each battalion was assigned to one of the six regional corps. Training was conducted at the Morehead Commando Training Center ( Rish Khor camp), a longtime former

Afghan Army The Army of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (), also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Army and the Afghan Army, is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The roots of an army in Afghanistan can be t ...

installation located south of

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into #Districts, 22 municipal dist ...

. The camp was reported as being in either

Wardak Province Maidan Wardak ( Pashto: ; Dari: ), also called Wardag or Wardak, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the central region of Afghanistan. It is divided into eight districts and has a population of approximately 500,00 The capit ...

Kabul Province Kabul (Persian: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is also Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province i ...

. The 12-week course ran three separate training programmes for different parts of the nascent unit at the same time. The primary and bulk of the training was geared for the infantry ''toli'' (company), with a focus on individual skills and small unit tactics. To support the fighting companies, the Headquarters and Headquarters ''Toli'' received other training such as in mortars, medical care, and communications. The third section focused on the ''kandak'' staff, and their

command and control Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ...

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

employs human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization o ...

functions.

US Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

Gates Visits New Afghan Commando Training Site
/ref> The unit recruits from all over Afghanistan from various Afghan Army units, taking in prospective Pashtuns, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek and Turkmen to prevent forms of tribal allegiance and bias. The first Commando ''Kandak'' graduated on July 24, 2007, with Col. Fareed Ahmadi as the ''kandak'' commander.Npr.org
New Afghan Commandos Take to the Frontlines
/ref> Upon graduation, each Commando ''Kandak'' returned to its designated corps area along with an embedded U.S. Army Special Forces A-Team, and began going through an 18-week cycle: six weeks each of train-up, missions and recovery.

3rd Special Forces Group The 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne) – abbreviated 3rd SFG(A) and often simply called 3rd Group – is an active duty United States Army Special Forces (SF) group which was active in the Vietnam Era (1963–69), deactivated, and then react ...

and

7th Special Forces Group The 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) (7th SFG) (A) is an operational unit of the United States Army Special Forces activated on 20 May 1960. It was reorganized from the 77th Special Forces Group, which was also stationed at Fort Bragg, Nor ...

rotated responsibility to train and advise in Afghanistan. While the original

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 pursua ...

plan was for one Brigade with six Kandaks (Battalions), the ANA had originally wanted a full division with three Brigades and 15 Kandaks.

After the fall of Kabul in 2021

During the

2021 Taliban offensive A military offensive by the Taliban insurgent group and other allied militants led to the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan based in Kabul and marked the end of the nearly 20-year-old War in Afghanistan, that had begun following the ...

, 22 Commandos were executed by the Taliban in the

Faryab Province Faryab (Dari: ) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan, which is located in the north of the country bordering neighboring Turkmenistan. It has a population of about 1,109,223, which is multi-ethnic and mostly a tribal society. The pr ...

after surrendering. While the Taliban were known to show leniency to normal ANA troops, Commandos and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

pilots were especially targeted by the Taliban. Following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban, on August 17, 2021, several ANA commandos were reported to be moving to Panjshir, joining the

National Resistance Front of Afghanistan The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), also known as the Second Resistance, is a military alliance of former Northern Alliance members and other anti-Taliban fighters loyal to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. The founder and pr ...

. Around 500–600 Afghan troops made up mostly of commandos were reported to have also refused to surrender in Kabul and instead joined up with US forces at

Hamid Karzai International Airport , nativename-r = , image = Flightline at Kabul International Airport.jpeg , caption = The flightline at Kabul International Airport in January 2012 , IATA = KBL , ICAO = OAKB , ...

, helping them secure the outer perimeter of the airport during the

2021 evacuation from Afghanistan Large-scale evacuations of foreign citizens and some vulnerable Afghan citizens took place amid the withdrawal of US and NATO forces during the final days of the war in Afghanistan and the Taliban offensive in Afghanistan in 2021. After the ...

. Some Afghan commandos were evacuated to the UK. On 1 September 2021, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine reported that the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

was contemplating recruiting such evacuated commandos into the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. In October 2022, the Russian armed forces reportedly started to recruit ex-Afghan commandos to Ukraine. An interview with Major General Kyrylo Budanov confirms sightings of ex-Afghan commandos deployed in Ukraine.https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ex-afghan-commandos-fighting-for-russia-in-ukraine-last-afghan-army-boss

Notes

References

* {{coord missing, Afghanistan Military units and formations of Afghanistan Counterterrorist organizations Commando units and formations Military units and formations established in 2007 Military units and formations of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)