The special forces troops from the Afghan National Army will be mentored by the SAS and Paras before being sent on “clandestine operations” both in the UK and abroad. They will likely also work closely with the Special Reconnaissance Regiment which is the UK special forces close surveillance group. Sources have said the commandos will be embedded with UK operators on future top-secret missions inside Afghanistan. They will also likely be deployed in counter-terror and deep undercover missions within the UK.
A source said: “Millions of pounds have been spent getting these Afghan troops up to a very high standard.
“In the medium term and in years to come they will be absolutely invaluable to the UK in going on hazardous missions in Afghanistan.
“Not only do they know the ground better than anyone but they have been fighting terrorism in Afghanistan for many years.
“British forces did not want their skills to go to waste if and, more likely when, al-Qaeda, Islamic State and other networks grow in Afghanistan they will be very useful.
“One of the few good things to come out of this fiasco is that we will now have a highly-capable local force at our disposal to use against those networks.
“And after witnessing what is unfolding already under Taliban rule they are certainly not lacking in commitment and motivation.”
READ MORE: Taliban threatens UK: Get out in seven days... or else
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace revealed around 8,600 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan in the past fortnight.
This includes close to 100 of the specially trained Afghan commandos who were evacuated to Britain over the weekend.
However, Mr Wallace admitted "we're not going to get everybody out of the country''.
He warned yesterday that UK forces were very unlikely to stay behind if the US pull out.
Boris Johnson was set to push Joe Biden at the G7 virtual summit today to extend the evacuation deadline but the Taliban leadership has already ruled the extension out.
A spokesman for the hard-line Islamists said that would cross their “red line” and “would provoke repercussions.”
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