US Republican lawmakers believe former members of the Afghan security forces are vulnerable to recruitment or coercion by Russia, China and Iran. Republicans emphasize that the Administration of the President, Joe Biden, has not prioritized the evacuation of Afghan troops.
Reuters writes about it.
"This is especially likely given reports that some former Afghan servicemen have fled to Iran," noted the House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans.
Their report, dedicated to the anniversary of the capture of Kabul by the Taliban, says that the US authorities failed to prioritize the evacuation of Afghan commandos and other elite units during the operation to withdraw US forces from Kabul International Airport on August 14-30, 2021.
The Biden administration called this operation an "extraordinary success." It was said to have brought 124,000 Americans and Afghans to safety, ending an "endless" war that had killed about 3,500 US and allied troops and hundreds of thousands of Afghans.
But US-trained commandos, other former security forces and their families still remain in Afghanistan. At the same time, there are reports that the Taliban are killing and torturing former Afghan officials. Taliban fighters deny these accusations.
Republicans stress that these former members of the security forces "could be recruited or forced to work for one of Americaʼs adversaries who maintain a presence in Afghanistan, including Russia, China or Iran."
This possibility is called a "serious risk to national security" because these Afghans "know the tactics, techniques and procedures of the US military and the intelligence community."