The UK-trained elite forces being wooed by Moscow

Afghan troops who fought the Taliban live in danger while Britain dithers over whether to give them sanctuary, writes Holly Bancroft. Meanwhile, our adversaries are circling...

For Ghulam, it began with a form handed to him by a colleague, offering him a way out. For more than 12 years, he had been part of an elite troop of Afghan special forces set up, trained and paid by the British government. Now, after being forced to flee the Taliban and leave his homeland for Iran, he worked long days in a recycling factory and had to evade police because of his undocumented status.

The fellow Afghan who gave Ghulam the form knew of his military background and thought he might be open to an offer. For some in Ghulam’s situation, a form comes first; for others, it’s contact by phone from other Afghan veterans. Some have been approached face to face. However it’s done, and whatever the terms, the offer to these elite UK-trained commandos is broadly the same: come to fight for Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces against Ukraine.

Ghulam was part of Afghan Territorial Force (ATF) 444 which, along with sister unit Commando Force (CF) 333, were set up by the British in the 2000s. Known as the “Triples”, they fought shoulder to shoulder with UK troops against the Taliban. That association has put these troops at risk since the Taliban regained control in 2021 and, although the UK government is now reassessing decisions to deny thousands of them sanctuary in the UK, progress is slow. Many are living in fear, with little or no communication on their future from the Ministry of Defence. An investigation by The Independent, in collaboration with investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports and Afghan news outlet Etilaat Roz, has found that, while the Triples’ wait in limbo goes on, Britain’s adversaries are circling.