Afghan National Army Commando Corps

The Afghan National Army Commandos (formerly ANA Commando Brigade;^[5] ANA Commando Battalion and Afghan National Army Commando Corps^[4]) was a commando (special operations capable) force of the Afghan National Army. During the Taliban insurgency, the commandos comprised 7% of the Afghan National Security Forces but conducted 70% to 80% of the fighting.^[6] The structure of the unit was based on the U.S. Army's 75th Ranger Regiment.^[7] Upon the fall of Kabul and the collapse of both the ANA and Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Commando Corps was dissolved but subsequently restored by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Afghan National Army Commandos
ANA Commando patch
Active	2007–2021
Country	Afghanistan
Branch	Afghan National Army
Type	Special operations forces
Size	21,000 commandos (2017)[1][2] 30,000 commandos (2021)[3]
Part of	ANA Special Operations Command
Headquarters	Rish Khor camp (Camp Morehead), Kabul Province, Afghanistan[4]
Mottos	Khoda, Watan, Wazifa
Engagements	War in Afghanistan Battle of Kunduz (2015) 2021 Taliban offensive

After the fall of Kabul the new Taliban regime claimed it reactivated the unit with a new flag and a new emblem, in the Islamic Emirate Army, but it is unknown if any of the previous units personnel or training got transferred.^[8][9] A number of ANA commandos joined the anti-Taliban Republican insurgency in Afghanistan.

History

Formation

During the United States invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, the first phase of the War in Afghanistan, the U.S. Army Special Forces (Green Berets) worked with Afghan local militias against the Taliban. The war effort eventually transitioned from removing the Taliban from power to assisting the U.S.-backed Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, led by President Hamid Karzai.^[10] However, the U.S. initially had no plans to establish a special operations force for the Afghan National Army, the military of the new government.^[11] But after the success of the Iraqi Special Operations Forces, which had been organized by the Green Berets, the decision was made to create a similar unit in Afghanistan.^[12] Known as the ANA Commandos or Afghan Commandos,^[13] their purpose would be to work with allied special operations units and conduct missions that were too complex for ANA regular forces.^[11] In late 2006 it was determined that instead of being organized like the Green Berets the new Afghan unit would become elite light infantry similar to the United States Army Rangers. This was due to the belief that the situation in Afghanistan was different from the Iraq War and had different requirements. Afghan leaders were also consulted and made suggestions based on their experience with the previous Afghan Commando Forces, which had been organized by the Soviet military during the Soviet-Afghan War.^[14]

The creation of the Commandos received critical support from the ANA chief of operations, Major General Sher Mohammad Karimi, himself a graduate of the Special Forces Qualification Course in the United States.^[14] In November 2006, a battalion of soldiers from the Afghan Army's 201st Corps, led by Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Farid Ahmadi, was selected to be the first to go through commando training, because it had high morale compared to other units. At the time there was a plan for each of the five ANA corps to eventually have a Commando unit.^[15]

Organization

The Afghan Commandos were organized into 650-man battalions known as kandaks, each having three Commando companies and one Special Forces (Qeta-ye Khas) company. Each kandak also included military intelligence, engineer, and other support elements.^[16] By 2019 there were ten commando kandaks in total, and they were the main component of the ANA Special Operations Command (ANASOC).^[17]

Selection and training

The Commandos recruited from various ANA units all over Afghanistan, taking in prospective Pashtuns, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, and Turkmen to prevent forms of tribal allegiance and bias.^[7]

Training was conducted at the Morehead Commando Training Center (Rish Khor camp), a longtime former Afghan Army installation located ten kilometres (six miles) south of Kabul. The camp was reported as being in either Wardak Province or Kabul Province.^[18] The 12-week Afghan Commando Qualification Course^[19] 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 functions.^[20]

The first commando kandak graduated on July 24, 2007, with Colonel Fareed Ahmadi as its commander.^[21] 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. Both the U.S. 3rd Special Forces Group and 7th Special Forces Group rotated responsibility to train and advise in Afghanistan.^[22]

While the original plan by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was for one brigade with six kandaks, the ANA wanted a full division with three brigades and 15 kandaks.^[23]

The Taliban-led Islamic Emirate Army has its own Commando forces, with a new flag and sleeve insignia. The tradition of wearing a maroon beret has still been retained, previously worn by the Afghan Commando Forces and similar formations since 1970.^[9][24][25]