“The Taliban present special forces”? We explain what this recording is

It has hundreds of thousands of views on social media – not only Polish ones videowhich shows quite spectacular exercises of soldiers. The recording lasts only 12 seconds. We watch soldiers armed with rifles with all their equipment (backpacks, sleeping pads) moving backwards on huge tires rolling forward. While they are moving, soldiers kneel, crouch, and aim. In the background you can see the grandstand where – as you might guess – the officials watching the show are sitting. Other soldiers sitting on the ground are also watching him. A mountainous landscape can be seen in the distance.

“The Taliban present their special forces… and their much-needed skills on the modern battlefield…” wrote one of the website X users, publishing this video on September 20 (original spelling of all posts). The post has almost 300,000 views. views.

For some Internet users, the film is an occasion for ridicule. “Motorized Infantry”; “Enemies think they are retreating, but actually they are advancing”; “Skills he found when a soldier is surrounded by a herd of sheep,” they comment. There are also entries appreciating the soldiers' skills, e.g.: “I wouldn't like to fight with someone who can fire accurately in such difficult conditions.”

Some Internet users, however, have doubts whether the recording comes from Afghanistan. “Are they really Taliban? The uniforms are probably American, the shoes and weapons are too. I don't like them,” says one of them.

As we have checked, videos from this exercise show are also popular on foreign networks – but the same video is described differently there. Some people think sothat they are Yemeni Houthi soldiers. Others say it is Kenyan Whether Nigerian military.

What is known about this recording?

Let us recall: in August 2021, the Taliban – Islamic radicals who ruled Afghanistan in the years 1996-2001 – took power in the country again after the withdrawal of foreign troops (including Polish) led by the United States. Officially, not a single country has recognized the legality of the Taliban's rule, although many countries – including several important ones, such as Russia and China, as well as some Central Asian countries – maintain economic and diplomatic relations with Afghanistan.

After the Taliban took power, Afghanistan is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world, cutting off many sources of financial aid from abroad. In addition to restrictions on women's rights – recently a decree was introduced prohibiting them from speaking in public places – the Taliban severely limited freedom of speech and media, and repeatedly detained and tortured opponents of the regime and journalists.

Even though the recording of the demonstration of soldiers moving on tires is so popular, we have not found any information online about what this event was and when it took place. No fact-checking editorial offices verified this material. It looks like a video recorded by a private person, maybe a viewer of the show, and not a professional recording for media use. However, we managed to determine that the video definitely comes from Afghanistan and does indeed show Taliban soldiers.

Well, in various shots from this show published online, you can see large white flags with black writing in various places. On recording published on one of the foreign accounts, they are very clear, in the foreground. And the white flag with black writing and a coat of arms above it, with a gold border, is the flag of the Taliban army.

As we write, the show is watched by officials gathered in the grandstand. There is a clear inscription above the stand – one of the suras of the Koran. In some shots, men dressed in Taliban style can be seen sitting in the distance. Recordings of the show are widely circulated Arabic websites with the information that they come from Afghanistan. According to one of the descriptions the soldiers are to come from Khorasan, a historical land in Central Asia located in what is now eastern Iran, western and central Afghanistan and partly in the territory of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

But why are Taliban soldiers wearing American uniforms and equipment? In April 2022, CNN reported – citing a report by the US Department of Defense – that the Americans left equipment worth approximately $7 billion in Afghanistan. Aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, communications equipment and other materials could fall into the hands of the Taliban. Although it is not known exactly what their technical condition was.