Former Afghan soldiers and police officers are being offered paid roles with Pakistani agencies in Balochistan, according to testimony obtained by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), adding new detail to allegations that personnel from Afghanistan’s former security forces are being deployed in the region.
Khan, a former Afghan soldier whose real name was withheld for security reasons, told RFE/RL that recruits were paid about Rs40,000 a month and introduced to police stations in the areas where they were deployed, allowing them to carry weapons and pass through checkpoints without difficulty.
“The offer came from a former police officer in the previous Afghan government,” Khan said, adding that the recruiter had the support of local officials.
He said the former officer repeatedly approached him, either directly or through another person, to join counter-insurgency operations in Balochistan. Khan refused the offers and eventually moved elsewhere after the approaches continued.
Khan said he personally knew several former Afghan soldiers and police officers who had accepted similar offers and joined government-sponsored armed groups led by a former Afghan police officer.
A separate source who monitors militant activity through contacts in the region told RFE/RL that nearly 2,000 former Afghan security personnel had been recruited in Balochistan. Khan said he believed the number could be higher.
The findings follow months of allegations by Baloch political and rights figures that former Afghan personnel have been deployed alongside Pakistani forces in parts of Balochistan.
A CLAIM REPEATED FOR MONTHS
Dr Mahrang Baloch, the imprisoned chief organiser of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), said in a statement from Hudda Jail that reports of former Afghan personnel taking part in operations alongside Pakistani forces had been emerging for months, generating “intense resentment, grief and concern” among Baloch residents.
She cited accounts from Zehri and other areas, while residents in Mastung had complained that former Afghan military personnel were occupying a school and had established a camp with Pakistani military backing.
The issue later reached the Balochistan Assembly, where Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam lawmaker Fazal Qadir Mandokhail questioned the presence of former Afghan soldiers in his constituency and asked the government to explain why they had been brought into the area.
Mandokhail, who represents Zhob, alleged that thousands of personnel who had served under former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani were present in Balochistan.
Former minister Abdul Rehman Khetran separately accused Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti of sheltering 50 to 60 non-local armed men at a school in Chacha, Dera Bugti. In a telephone interview with Quetta-based journalist Dauran Baloch, he described the men as militia members whom local residents did not recognise.
“Local people are also unable to recognise them. It is unclear where they have been brought from or what role they are expected to play,” he said.
In August, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency reported that former Afghan military personnel who left Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in 2021 had joined armed groups operating with the support of Pakistani military and intelligence institutions.
Tasnim said the groups, locally referred to as “lashkars” and described in Balochistan as “death squads”, operated alongside Pakistani forces without being formally incorporated into state institutions.
The report said their military training, combat experience and familiarity with border operations made former Afghan personnel attractive recruits, while financial hardship was a principal reason some had accepted the work.
OUTSOURCING SECURITY
The alleged recruitment of former Afghan personnel would add another layer to Pakistan’s long-standing reliance on irregular armed groups in Balochistan, where locally recruited militias have operated alongside state forces and are widely described by Baloch political and armed groups as “death squads”.
Analysts say the use of such groups has contributed to deep mistrust among local communities in Balochistan.
Security analyst Muhammad Amir Rana wrote in July that private militias and so-called peace committees had become among the “primary drivers of mistrust between the state and society” in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, warning that the incorporation of former Afghan fighters into such structures could further complicate the conflict.
The risks for locally recruited armed groups have also increased as Baloch insurgents expand attacks on people they accuse of providing intelligence or military support to Pakistani forces.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has intensified such attacks under what it calls “Operation Marg-e-Gaddaran”, or “Death to Traitors”, targeting alleged state-backed armed groups and people it accuses of collaborating with the military.
In July, the BLA’s Majeed Brigade attacked the main compound of Shafiq Mengal in Khuzdar, claiming that 34 of his associates were killed while Mengal escaped in a bulletproof vehicle.
In one of the latest attacks, the BLA said five people were killed near Mengal’s compound in Wadh on September 16, describing the site as a base of an alleged “death squad”. The group subsequently warned people associated with such networks to sever their links and return to civilian life or face further attacks.
The campaign has added to the pressure on locally recruited militias at a time when analysts say such groups have become increasingly unpopular.
If confirmed, the recruitment of former Afghan soldiers and police officers could provide state-backed armed groups with a pool of experienced fighters with military training and combat experience, while potentially reducing their reliance on recruits drawn from the areas in which they operate.
VULNERABLE AFTER THE FALL OF KABUL
The reported recruitment comes as many former Afghan military and police personnel continue to face uncertain conditions following the collapse of the previous government and the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021.
Thousands fled Afghanistan or went into hiding amid fears of retaliation despite a general amnesty announced by the Taliban, while many were left without salaries, regular employment or secure legal status in neighbouring countries.
Taliban authorities have rejected allegations of a systematic campaign against former government personnel, saying the amnesty remains in force.
Baloch political and rights figures have raised concerns that these circumstances are being exploited to recruit former Afghan personnel for operations in Balochistan, warning that their involvement could also damage the historical relationship between the two peoples.
Mahrang Baloch described relations between Baloch and Afghans as a “historical, civilisational and human bond”, saying both nations had provided refuge to one another and shared experiences of war, displacement and repression.
Addressing Afghanistan’s former political leadership, she urged it to investigate the allegations and prevent former military personnel from participating in operations against Baloch people.
“If today your people are becoming involved in oppression and repression against the Baloch people in exchange for minor interests, privileges or refuge, then this is not only an act against the Baloch, but is also contrary to the historical traditions and dignity of the Afghan nation,” she said.
Mahrang said Afghans had themselves experienced war, oppression and displacement, and argued that those accepting protection or material benefits should consider the consequences of becoming involved in violence against the Baloch.
She called on Afghanistan’s former leadership to prevent former personnel from participating in what she described as the “genocide of the Baloch people”.
“History sometimes brings such tests in which silence also becomes a position,” she said.
“The historical bond between the Baloch and Afghan nations is based on mutual respect, brotherhood and shared struggle,” Mahrang added. “This relationship should not be sacrificed to any state project, any temporary interest or any provisional political arrangement.”