Iran training Taliban fighters
Hundreds of Taliban fighters are receiving advanced training from special forces at military academies in Iran as part of a significant escalation of support for the insurgents, Taliban and Afghan officials have told The Times.
The scale, quality and length of the training is unprecedented and marks not only a shift in the proxy conflict between the United States and Iran inside Afghanistan but a potential change in Iran’s ability and will to affect the outcome of the Afghan war.
A political adviser to the Taliban at its Quetta Shura headquarters in Pakistan said: ‘‘The Iranian offer of training came with two demands: that we should put more focus on attacking American and Nato interests in Afghanistan, and devote more forces to attacking the Daesh [Isis].’’
The adviser – a 38-year-old former bomb-maker from the Sangin district in Helmand province, who cannot be named – said talks between the Taliban and Iran about sending insurgents on sixmonth training runs by Iranian special forces began in spring this year, when American President Donald Trump was keen to pull the US out of 2015’s nuclear deal.
The Taliban selected its brightest and most able young fighters and sent them into Iran in small groups in May, where they were met by Iranian military officials and taken to their camps.
One such camp is said to be in Kermanshah, a province in western Iran; Afghan intelligence officials suggest there could be others. Taliban sources claim that up to 300 Iranian visas were made available to their cadres in each of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces earlier this year.
A deputy corps commander of the Afghan National Army said: ‘‘Every day the Taliban get stronger and stronger, and the land they affect gets bigger. Yet at the same time the influence of Pakistan on the Taliban is weakening. Pakistan plays both sides and is short of trust. It is Iranian backing of the Taliban that has made the most recent impact. So far, Iran has chosen not to really push things but already the effect is big.’’
‘‘The Iranian offer of training came with two demands: that we should put more focus on attacking American and Nato interests in Afghanistan, and devote more forces to attacking the Daesh [Isis].’’ Taliban political adviser