- In the last weeks of August, U.S. troops and international allies rushed to evacuate the evacuees from Afghanistan.
- It was difficult to remove at-risk foreign and Afghan nationals, which required many of them to reach through Taliban areas.
- The key to these operations were the special operations units, which went out of the cable and extracted people at risk.
The speed of enlightenment of the Taliban conquest of Afghanistan caught the U.S. and its ill-prepared allies.
The resulting evacuation was affected by confusion, mistakes and tragedy. But not everything went wrong. U.S. and coalition forces managed to remove approximately 115,000 people from the country, including vulnerable U.S. citizens, third-country nationals, and Afghans and their families.
The keys to the evacuations were the special operations units, which were able to get out of the cable and extract people at risk.
Special operations face evacuations
A paratrooper from the 82nd Airborne Division supports the evacuations at Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 22, 2021.
US Central Command
There were several special operations units that assisted U.S. troops during the evacuations, including elements of the Joint Command of Special Operations – probably the Navy SEALs of the Special Naval War Development Group or the operators of the Delta Force, helicopters of the 160th Army Special Operations Special Aviation Regiment, also known as the “Night Stalkers” and air commandos, such as pararescuemen to provide medical support and combat controllers to provide traffic control air and call a nearby air service if necessary.
It is also safe to assume that the 75th Rangers Regiment had a presence – probably a platoon or a company – at the airport to support any special mission unit.
The U.S. military initially said it was not conducting any rescue operations outside the cable, but reports indicate that U.S. troops, operating under CIA control, were sent to help evacuate high-risk U.S. and Afghan citizens in the city.
Several factors allowed the special operations units to direct evacuation efforts in parts of the city held by the Taliban.
First, leadership on the ground comes from the special operations community, ensuring similar mindsets that could help smooth out any friction during planning and execution.
The commander-in-chief of the U.S. Ground Force, Major General Chris Donahue, is a former Delta Force operator who commanded at all levels of the Unit, even as a top commander. Donahue now commands the 82nd Airborne Division and was the last American troop to leave Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Major General Chris Donahue was the last member of the U.S. service to leave Kabul.
USA CENTCOM
In addition, Co-Administrator Peter Vasely, commander of the Afghanistan Special Operations Special Operations Commission, is a former officer in the Special Naval Warfare Development Group, formerly known as the SEAL 6 team. of special field operations units.
Second, special operations forces are better equipped and more suitable for precision and time-sensitive operations in semi-permissive or non-permissive environments. From recruitment to selection and training, special operators are conditioned to operate in ambiguous and fluid environments.
While the U.S. military and State Department worked with the Taliban to evacuate people, uncertainty about the intentions of the Taliban or the factions within them added to the complexity, as did the intelligence that suggested that ISIS-K, a local affiliate of the terrorist group, would do so. try to take advantage of the confusion to launch attacks. An ISIS-K bombing outside Kabul airport killed 13 members of the US service and hundreds of Afghans.
Preparing for an unconventional war is underscored from the recruiter’s office to the retirement ceremony, a former Green Beret told Insider. “We thrive in the unstructured situations faced by land people in Kabul.”
Finally, special operations units have worked with their Afghan counterparts for years and were in a good position to use those relationships to facilitate evacuations.
For years, U.S. special operators trained, advised, and fought alongside their Afghan counterparts, often with devastating effectiveness. Afghan special operations forces were probably the units most hated by the Taliban.
“It’s also about human relationships. We fought alongside these guys for decades. Many were bleeding in addition to us. Others saved our lives and made our mission easier on a daily basis. These relationships don’t fade like that,” he said. say the old Green Beret. . “When the whole shitshow began to unfold, veterinarians who had kept in touch with their Afghans were in a good position to try to exfiltrate them and their families.”
Instrumental in the evacuations
U.S. Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie boarded a plane evacuating people at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 17, 2021.
Captain William Urban / US Navy via AP
The ability of U.S. special forces and the coalition to leave Hamid Karzai International Airport, find U.S. citizens, third-country nationals, and Afghans, and listen to them in security was key to save thousands.
“U.S. special operations forces came to help attract more than 1,064 U.S. citizens and 2,017 SIVs or Afghans at risk and 127 third-country nationals, all through phone calls, carriers and escorts,” he said. General Kenneth McKenzie, who is in charge of military operations in the region as head of the U.S. Central Command, said Aug. 30.
But U.S. and Coalition special operations units were not alone in their off-the-shelf efforts.
The Taliban members “were very helpful and helpful to us in closing operations,” McKenzie added.
Afghan special forces from the National Security Directorate, Afghanistan’s now-defunct intelligence service, also aided evacuation efforts from Kabul.
Trained by the American intelligence community, these Afghan units were able to operate behind enemy lines much more easily than U.S. or coalition troops.
The language skills, physical appearance and familiarity of the area of Afghan special operators allowed them to operate perfectly in the Taliban country and facilitate or carry out the extraction of large numbers of people.
A coalition of special operators
A member of the Danish coalition service has a Danish flag to identify her during the evacuations at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 21, 2021.
US Marine Corps / Staff Sgt. Victor Mancilla
International special operations units were also instrumental in the evacuation.
Most countries that participated in the war against al-Qaeda and the Taliban sent military forces to evacuate their embassies and Afghans who had collaborated or worked for them.
The United Kingdom, Canada, France, Spain, Australia, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Slovakia were some of the countries that deployed troops for the evacuations.
All of these contingents included special operators tasked with providing security or getting off the cable to rescue or transport people. They also worked with American commandos.
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a special operations defense journalist, a veteran of the Hellenic Army (national service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army Headquarters) and a graduate of Johns Hopkins University.