Thomas Casa identified himself as a soldier in the US Special Forces (Green Berets) in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is now in the National Guard and owner of the 1208 Humanitarian Aid Foundation.
In an article in the New York Times, he said that his division was specialized in training and fighting alongside indigenous forces.
Since the departure of US forces from Afghanistan, and as a result of the lack of government support for nonprofit organizations that have worked to assist former allies, Casa said, many highly trained commandos have accepted offers of enlistment to fight with the Russian army in Ukraine.
The writer estimated the number of Afghans trained by the Americans at between 20,000 and 30,000 men, indicating that they would find it very difficult to refuse any means that would enable them to obtain a monthly salary and a promise of housing from the Taliban government, even if the return was to fight.
Although Putin promises to provide incentives to these Afghans if they fight for Russia in order to improve the living conditions of their families, by making them receive $1,500 and granting them Russian citizenship, this is nothing compared to the fate that awaits them as they are deployed on the front lines in Donbass, where They are being torn apart by the same American-made weapons that once supported them in combat.
Many ex-Afghan security personnel accuse the United States of abandoning them after the Taliban regained power last year. They also say poverty and security concerns are factoring into their decisions to take a private Russian mercenary group up on its recruitment offers.
