Taliban Troops Have Western-educated Military Characteristics, Are There Defective Afghan Soldiers?

The first and second Taliban soldiers from the right, placed their fingers straight on the shield of the trigger. (Twitter/@Ahmadmuttaqi01)

JAKARTA - Taliban forces in some photos show the characteristics of soldiers with Western training, referring to the training provided by the United States or Britain, raising questions the Afghan army has defected.

Reports of Afghan government forces switching sides, instead of fighting the Taliban actively circulated in the media in July and August 2021 during which the Taliban carried out a series of offensive attacks, successfully occupying Kabul on August 15.

Several Taliban fighters seen in many photos show signs of having received professional military training, perhaps from the UK or the US, or from people who have been trained by these countries' militaries, The Times reported, citing an anonymous source in the British military.

They reportedly came to this conclusion, after studying the circulating photos, including photos from the latest Taliban operation in the Panjshir Valley region, facing the opposition.

The military source pointed to the fact that many fighters held their finger straight over the trigger guard while holding the gun, which prevented the accidental firing of the gun.

"This is the safety training we have. Untrained troops will usually hold the gun at random. But if your hand is behind the gun grip and your finger is on the trigger guard, then you won't let loose a negligent shot and no one else will, others will fire it too", a British military source said, citing Sputnik News of The Times September 8.

This type of training is typical in Western militaries and could also be given to Taliban fighters by those trained by the United States or Britain, media sources said.

This reinforces the notion that the Taliban group has undergone certain changes over the past few decades, becoming 'Taliban 2.0', sources said.

Discipline triggers are one of these signs. Another is reported showing that the Taliban did not kill 'many people' in the Panjshir Valley, the last opposition stronghold in northern Afghanistan.

"The Taliban are not the same people from the 1990s", said one anonymous source.

The United States and other NATO countries have been involved in much of the training of Afghan locals, as part of failed efforts to build a military capable of at least holding back the Taliban after foreign troops withdrew.

There are numerous media reports indicating that many members of the Afghan military chose to switch sides rather than fight the insurgents when the Taliban launched their summer offensive that resulted in the takeover of Afghanistan.

As for the reasons why the Afghan army switched sides, Barbara Kelemen, an intelligence analyst at security intelligence firm Dragonfly, said there were several reasons why.

"Among the reasons that will encourage some soldiers to join the Taliban are their previous ties to the group, economic incentives, to personal or family safety if they think the defeat of government forces is possible", Kelemen said.

At the same time, an anonymous defense source dismissed the idea in an interview with The Times, claiming any competent force would show signs like a straight finger.

"We have no evidence to support reports that the former Western-trained Afghan Security Forces have joined the Taliban", the source said