Photos Afghan Armed Forces (Prior to 2021)

[Hiryu2.0]

France, Europeans working to open joint mission in Afghanistan - Macron

Several European countries are working on opening up a joint diplomatic mission in Afghanistan that would enable their ambassadors to return to the country, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.

www.reuters.com

Macron thanks Qatar for Afghan evacuations

French President Emmanuel Macron, on a visit to the Gulf, expressed appreciation to Qatar on Saturday for helping to organise the latest evacuation to France of more than 250 threatened Afghans.

www.france24.com

 

[haze99]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...fghan-capital/ar-AARQgV4?ocid=iehp&li=BBnbfcL

 

[ao_sepia]

real Taliban's gov kill at least 100 former Afghan militaries?

 

[Mike1976]

real Taliban's gov kill at least 100 former Afghan militaries?

That's a very low estimate.

 

[FLYNAVY]

The Afghan Commandos we've evac'd & those still in Country are telling gut wrenching stories of entire families that remained in Afghanistan being rounded up & beheaded or hanged. The taliban haven't changed & if anything they've gotten worse since they know no Country is willing to call them on their dirty deeds. Seems like a few more Commandos in our military now are wanting to go back & continue the fight. Glad it's not in my pay grade to let them.

 

[ao_sepia]

but Taliban's gov does not kill pilots and technicians!?

 

[1645556315]

but Taliban's gov does not kill pilots and technicians!?

Most of the Afghan army personnel did not really fighting Taliban. They joined army\police only to get payments and did anything to avoid real service. This was not only army. Entire pro-western afghan state was only sort of a good business for locals to get more dollars from US and Co. Many of them were pro-Taliban or has tribe\family and other connections with them and easily switched side when pro-western state has collapsed.

'Commandos' gang was the other deal, they were faithful dogs of the masters (US) and killed and tortured a lot of afghanis. Taliban fighters, their relatives and familiy members, supporters and just a unlucky random people. Sure many people hate them in Afghanistan and want revenge.

 

[Bombardier]

Most of the Afghan army personnel did not really fighting Taliban. They joined army\police only to get payments and did anything to avoid real service. This was not only army. Entire pro-western afghan state was only sort of a good business for locals to get more dollars from US and Co. Many of them were pro-Taliban or has tribe\family and other connections with them and easily switched side when pro-western state has collapsed.

'Commandos' gang was the other deal, they were faithful dogs of the masters (US) and killed and tortured a lot of afghanis. Taliban fighters, their relatives and familiy members, supporters and just a unlucky random people. Sure many people hate them in Afghanistan and want revenge.

And you can evidence this how?

 

[downsizer]

Most of the Afghan army personnel did not really fighting Taliban. They joined army\police only to get payments and did anything to avoid real service. This was not only army. Entire pro-western afghan state was only sort of a good business for locals to get more dollars from US and Co. Many of them were pro-Taliban or has tribe\family and other connections with them and easily switched side when pro-western state has collapsed.

'Commandos' gang was the other deal, they were faithful dogs of the masters (US) and killed and tortured a lot of afghanis. Taliban fighters, their relatives and familiy members, supporters and just a unlucky random people. Sure many people hate them in Afghanistan and want revenge.

Please tell me all the first hand experience you have of the Afghan security forces or all the time you have spent there please?

Just so we can understand what experience you are basing your statements on....

 

[FLYNAVY]

We had fairly strict vetting for accepting Afghan soldiers [ANA] into Commandos. Once vetted & trained I'd put them up against most Country's Commandos & loyalty to their homeland was a big factor in the difficulty of flying them out & them wanting to go back to fight. Commando material is fairly easy to spot, they always showed up drug free, usually only had one wife & treated their many children like royalty. Most are well educated & physically fit. I delivered a lot of their children at the Role 3 Hospital @ Bastion if I happened to be there. That was an interesting Fatwah issued by the Imam that allowed us to become related to the local women to be able to medically treat them by touching a drop of expressed breast fluid to our lips. Probably half of the ANA were not worth having, stayed stoned, beat their women & children, if given full charged ammo & they felt the least bit slighted by you would shoot you if they got a chance. There were a lot of ghost soldiers when the Afghan Generals were handing out the paychecks [we stopped that practice but the US didn't] & feel that was a large part of the reason Afghanistan fell to the taliban so fast. The US keep thinking there were more soldiers than there were. I still wish we could have fixed Afghanistan but it was not to be despite our best efforts. I'm not ready to write their entire Country off & my heart aches for the number of my kids that are going to die there this winter from starvation & freezing to death. I ask God several times a day, sometimes not in a nice way to step up & show me how & give a little help in making things better there.

 

[downsizer]

We had fairly strict vetting for accepting Afghan soldiers [ANA] into Commandos. Once vetted & trained I'd put them up against most Country's Commandos & loyalty to their homeland was a big factor in the difficulty of flying them out & them wanting to go back to fight. Commando material is fairly easy to spot, they always showed up drug free, usually only had one wife & treated their many children like royalty. Most are well educated & physically fit. I delivered a lot of their children at the Role 3 Hospital @ Bastion if I happened to be there. That was an interesting Fatwah issued by the Imam that allowed us to become related to the local women to be able to medically treat them by touching a drop of expressed breast fluid to our lips. Probably half of the ANA were not worth having, stayed stoned, beat their women & children, if given full charged ammo & they felt the least bit slighted by you would shoot you if they got a chance. There were a lot of ghost soldiers when the Afghan Generals were handing out the paychecks [we stopped that practice but the US didn't] & feel that was a large part of the reason Afghanistan fell to the taliban so fast. The US keep thinking there were more soldiers than there were. I still wish we could have fixed Afghanistan but it was not to be despite our best efforts. I'm not ready to write their entire Country off & my heart aches for the number of my kids that are going to die there this winter from starvation & freezing to death. I ask God several times a day, sometimes not in a nice way to step up & show me how & give a little help in making things better there.

Too right mate. It's very easy for the armchair generals who never set foot in the country to spit out their hot takes - but the reality is much more complex. Like any society there was good and bad.

 

[haze99]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...yone-realized/ar-AARVpTi?ocid=iehp&li=BBnbfcL

 

[Gordus]

'Commandos' gang was the other deal, they were faithful dogs of the masters (US) and killed and tortured a lot of afghanis. Taliban fighters, their relatives and familiy members, supporters and just a unlucky random people. Sure many people hate them in Afghanistan and want revenge.

Let's say there was truth to that.

On the other hand, you have the Taliban.
When Taliban seized power in 1996, it took them only a few years as governing body to grow a respectable reputation in indiscriminate mass killings of civilians and other severe human rights abuses. In conclusion when observing insurgencies, often their codunct towards invader and populace alike seem no better than what you accuse ANA commandos of. Arguably sometimes even worse.
This should also ring a bell. It are down to the letter the same sort of attrocities Russian forces and their local colaborators, but also insurgents are accused of committing in the 2nd Chechen War. Such events seem sadly inevitable in armed conflicts. That is why war should be prevented at all cost to begin with.

 

[Flagg]

We had fairly strict vetting for accepting Afghan soldiers [ANA] into Commandos. Once vetted & trained I'd put them up against most Country's Commandos & loyalty to their homeland was a big factor in the difficulty of flying them out & them wanting to go back to fight. Commando material is fairly easy to spot, they always showed up drug free, usually only had one wife & treated their many children like royalty. Most are well educated & physically fit. I delivered a lot of their children at the Role 3 Hospital @ Bastion if I happened to be there. That was an interesting Fatwah issued by the Imam that allowed us to become related to the local women to be able to medically treat them by touching a drop of expressed breast fluid to our lips. Probably half of the ANA were not worth having, stayed stoned, beat their women & children, if given full charged ammo & they felt the least bit slighted by you would shoot you if they got a chance. There were a lot of ghost soldiers when the Afghan Generals were handing out the paychecks [we stopped that practice but the US didn't] & feel that was a large part of the reason Afghanistan fell to the taliban so fast. The US keep thinking there were more soldiers than there were. I still wish we could have fixed Afghanistan but it was not to be despite our best efforts. I'm not ready to write their entire Country off & my heart aches for the number of my kids that are going to die there this winter from starvation & freezing to death. I ask God several times a day, sometimes not in a nice way to step up & show me how & give a little help in making things better there.

We had a similar but different quasi loophole to drive around our female translators/interpreters unaccompanied(still in the back of the vehicle on the opposite side) for work in the field, by considering us family and stating as such within the communities we worked in.

The colder winter gets, the longer it lasts, the more stored calories are burned, the more will die.

I would rate it as nearly unavoidable at this stage, because even if a massive airlift was initiated today local/provincial MSRs will be getting shut by snow making it too late for too many.

I think it’s entirely realistic that 1 to 2 million fewer Afghans will be alive in April as a direct/indirect result of famine.

The difference between now and 25 years ago is that the desolation and despair will be streamed on 8k UHD now.

 

[FLYNAVY]

We're still air dropping food & winter gear but it is a drop in the ocean to what they need. We're hitting some wicked cold air temps that fogs up the entire aircraft in seconds after dropping the ramp, even if we suit up to stay warm & keep the heat off. Got a flash a few days ago that the Americans are admitting there are 66K Americans, SIV holders & green card holders they need to exfil, anyone else hearing that #. If accurate that's gonna be tuff over winter. Also hearing the taliban are setting up malnutrition centers for children but haven't visited one yet when we stop to refuel in Kabul & maybe pick up a few transients. Hope it's the real deal.

 

[Ivan le Fou]

We're still air dropping food & winter gear but it is a drop in the ocean to what they need. We're hitting some wicked cold air temps that fogs up the entire aircraft in seconds after dropping the ramp, even if we suit up to stay warm & keep the heat off. Got a flash a few days ago that the Americans are admitting there are 66K Americans, SIV holders & green card holders they need to exfil, anyone else hearing that #. If accurate that's gonna be tuff over winter. Also hearing the taliban are setting up malnutrition centers for children but haven't visited one yet when we stop to refuel in Kabul & maybe pick up a few transients. Hope it's the real deal.

I have slightly higher numbers, but they remain consistent with those you gave.

Which do not match AT ALL the estimates provided back in August (+- 80k at around August 21).
As we have noted back in October, each "100" is actually around "1000".
So either the numbers given back in August were gross underestimates, or the evacuation of US "citizens" (SIV, GC, etc...) was overlooked and botched.
Incidentally, the "underestimation" and "overlooking + botching" are not exclusive to one-another.

The fact they are giving numbers that are, realistically, closer to reality is a bit puzzling as to the reasons behind it (why? Why now?).

And the persistent lack of interest from the media is also frustrating. But the media will do what the media usually do...

 

[FLYNAVY]

I have slightly higher numbers, but they remain consistent with those you gave.

Which do not match AT ALL the estimates provided back in August (+- 80k at around August 21).
As we have noted back in October, each "100" is actually around "1000".
So either the numbers given back in August were gross underestimates, or the evacuation of US "citizens" (SIV, GC, etc...) was overlooked and botched.
Incidentally, the "underestimation" and "overlooking + botching" are not exclusive to one-another.

The fact they are giving numbers that are, realistically, closer to reality is a bit puzzling as to the reasons behind it (why? Why now?).

And the persistent lack of interest from the media is also frustrating. But the media will do what the media usually do...

I was afraid the new US # might be real this time. I honestly think they are now trying to just kick the can down the road until nobody cares anymore. We will get them out safely but we need names & contact info so we can geographically group evacuees so we're not hop scotching all over the countryside. It's not a good system but it's all we got. I can only hope the US is negotiating without letting the taliban walk all over them. We still have bombers parked nearby, only need a target list as they say.
Also, Matt have written a good article in the NY Times about the fall of Afghanistan, worth reading if you guys have the time. Here's a free link to the article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/magazine/fall-of-kabul-afghanistan.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuonUktbfqohlSlUaAybQVNcuvByAiL_Bybg4w3jwaSucQytGiu0bDIiJ_UbWeaNlIdsv2jDRDPlwDIgSft0ghOlOIx4qDACyvpqPnJlCLSs88NvqD25z0cvDDPVl-GfkK2PgIrw6mOy24x6Ib2XhXqSIwmRhcFg-2eZtcFyt0XYDxK7XQKUiipQlg6BXVt0tTiwAZSKJo_HoFx18Xd6HZRnf4QAzMPpLDXCRxZXPruJdL3gBTA7OX3h94m4j6NhDO95xP6z3LxYoecSWkqwpKk6h0FaOVIZ1KHBY4bkQ&smid=url-share

 

[RL64RL]

I was afraid the new US # might be real this time. I honestly think they are now trying to just kick the can down the road until nobody cares anymore. We will get them out safely but we need names & contact info so we can geographically group evacuees so we're not hop scotching all over the countryside. It's not a good system but it's all we got. I can only hope the US is negotiating without letting the taliban walk all over them. We still have bombers parked nearby, only need a target list as they say.
Also, Matt have written a good article in the NY Times about the fall of Afghanistan, worth reading if you guys have the time. Here's a free link to the article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/magazine/fall-of-kabul-afghanistan.html?unlocked_article_code=AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACEIPuonUktbfqohlSlUaAybQVNcuvByAiL_Bybg4w3jwaSucQytGiu0bDIiJ_UbWeaNlIdsv2jDRDPlwDIgSft0ghOlOIx4qDACyvpqPnJlCLSs88NvqD25z0cvDDPVl-GfkK2PgIrw6mOy24x6Ib2XhXqSIwmRhcFg-2eZtcFyt0XYDxK7XQKUiipQlg6BXVt0tTiwAZSKJo_HoFx18Xd6HZRnf4QAzMPpLDXCRxZXPruJdL3gBTA7OX3h94m4j6NhDO95xP6z3LxYoecSWkqwpKk6h0FaOVIZ1KHBY4bkQ&smid=url-share

Wonderful article . . . thank you.

RL

 

[SamWell]

The Afghan Commandos we've evac'd & those still in Country are telling gut wrenching stories of entire families that remained in Afghanistan being rounded up & beheaded or hanged. The taliban haven't changed & if anything they've gotten worse since they know no Country is willing to call them on their dirty deeds.

Who would've ever predict that?

 

[SamWell]

I'll maybe insert my five cents

Most of the Afghan army personnel did not really fighting Taliban. They joined army\police only to get payments and did anything to avoid real service. This was not only army. Entire pro-western afghan state was only sort of a good business for locals to get more dollars from US and Co. Many of them were pro-Taliban or has tribe\family and other connections with them and easily switched side when pro-western state has collapsed.

'Commandos' gang was the other deal, they were faithful dogs of the masters (US) and killed and tortured a lot of afghanis. Taliban fighters, their relatives and familiy members, supporters and just a unlucky random people. Sure many people hate them in Afghanistan and want revenge.

Тhats kinda true,but I don’t think it’s because they serve someone there.It's just that for an ordinary soldier,his service is just a well paid(by afghan standarts) job,while for some amount of the commandos it’s a way to get even with an enemy tribe,neighbor who did not give his daughter to him as a wife,or just with those whom he do not like

We had fairly strict vetting for accepting Afghan soldiers [ANA] into Commandos. Once vetted & trained I'd put them up against most Country's Commandos & loyalty to their homeland

when we talk about tribаlic society, it is important to understand what they mean by this

was a big factor in the difficulty of flying them out & them wanting to go back to fight. Commando material is fairly easy to spot, they always showed up drug free, usually only had one wife

It even became interesting how their marriage affairs were during "afghan democracy"and your presence?

& treated their many children like royalty. Most are well educated & physically fit. I delivered a lot of their children at the Role 3 Hospital @ Bastion if I happened to be there. That was an interesting Fatwah issued by the Imam that allowed us to become related to the local women to be able to medically treat them by touching a drop of expressed breast fluid to our lips. Probably half of the ANA were not worth having, stayed stoned, beat their women & children, if given full charged ammo & they felt the least bit slighted by you would shoot you if they got a chance. There were a lot of ghost soldiers when the Afghan Generals were handing out the paychecks [we stopped that practice but the US didn't] & feel that was a large part of the reason Afghanistan fell to the taliban so fast. The US keep thinking there were more soldiers than there were.

I do not think that US had much other options

I still wish we could have fixed Afghanistan but it was not to be despite our best efforts. I'm not ready to write their entire Country off & my heart aches for the number of my kids that are going to die there this winter from starvation & freezing to death. I ask God several times a day, sometimes not in a nice way to step up & show me how & give a little help in making things better there.

Let's say there was truth to that.

On the other hand, you have the Taliban.
When Taliban seized power in 1996, it took them only a few years as governing body to grow a respectable reputation in indiscriminate mass killings of civilians and other severe human rights abuses. In conclusion when observing insurgencies, often their codunct towards invader and populace alike seem no better than what you accuse ANA commandos of. Arguably sometimes even worse.

You both made me think about this things.First there was a quasi-socialist regime that was relatively herbivorous and mostly killed only its direct opponents. It was later overthrown by western backed terrorists who began massacre based on tribal lines.And later on it was overthrown by the Taliban,and they were even more rude.But at the same time it cannot be said that they are not successful in retaining power.Perhaps even more successful than others. I don't соunt pro-American regime, because, as we have all seen, it was supported mostly by American bayonets. Is there a pattern here?

This should also ring a bell. It are down to the letter the same sort of attrocities Russian forces and their local colaborators, but also insurgents are accused of committing in the 2nd Chechen War. Such events seem sadly inevitable in armed conflicts. That is why war should be prevented at all cost to begin with.

I would still see the difference in the activities of the Chechens, no matter which side they are on,аnd the Russian army