New Delhi: From a military point of view, the fast fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the abject giving-in by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) or the regular Afghanistan government troops and the police forces is as spectacular as the forward march of the Taliban forces, many riding in captured American-made Humvees, even as they moved into Kabul on Sunday.
According to sources on the ground in various provinces in the war-ravaged country, the Taliban assaults are spearheaded by members of the elite special forces unit called the 'Sara Kheta' ('Red Unit' in Pashto) who are followed by the regular hordes of foot-soldiers. While being of high propaganda value especially to lure more Afghan youth to the Taliban fighting fold, 'Red Unit' fighters donning battle fatigues are much better trained and are equipped with vehicles, better weapons and other military equipment.
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Sporting red head-bands and mostly wearing Pakistan-made 'Cheetah' sneakers, they easily stand out from the regular Taliban foot-soldiers with their elbow guards, knee pads, special gloves and chest rigs. Their weapons and fighting equipment include US-made M4 carbines, Kalashnikov assault rifles, Tokarev pistols, light machine guns, night-vision equipment and laser pointers. They are also known to use anti-aircraft guns.
In most operations, the 'Red Unit' employs snipers and commandos who take out high value targets with precision kills and assaults before the regular Taliban foot soldiers move in to consolidate their positions. While the regular Taliban soldier usually prefers to operate in his local area and region, the 'Red Unit' militants are trained to be deployable all across the country with rapid mobility being a main feature.
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Handpicked from among the Taliban forces and initially formed with about a few hundred fighters in October 2015 with the mandate of combating Islamic State (IS) militants, the 'Red Unit' is believed to have recruited many more since then. Its total numbers are believed to be in thousands.
With the IS gradually losing influence in the face of organized aggression by the Taliban - Haqqani Network- Al-Qaeda nexus in its core areas of Nangarhar, Helmand and Farah, the mandate of the 'Red Unit' has since changed to taking on the ANDSF, the CIA-trained 'special forces' and the Afghan police.
The first ‘Red Unit’ deployment by the Taliban was in Sangin in north-eastern Helmand in 2016. By 2018, the unit had spread its operational domain to all across Afghanistan.
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