MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

What is the Badri 313? Feared Taliban 'special forces' spotted sporting American equipment

According to a member of Pakistan Defense's website, the Taliban are now a professional paramilitary force probably even better equipped than Pak Army

The Taliban founded in 1994 is now undergoing a metamorphosis, reports confirm. The Islamist militant group and its various units pictured wearing flowy salwar kameez with a turban and sporting flowing beards with an AK-47 rifle thrown on their shoulders have since undergone a makeover. They have unveiled a special force unit in promotional material on social media last month which no longer looks like the farmer-turned-fighter group. Instead, these are camouflage jackets and trousers wearing soldiers with state-of-the-art military weapons who are reportedly patrolling the streets of Afghanistan. 

The Taliban have seized full control of Afghanistan on August 15 for the first time since 2001. There are reports of the militant group going door to door, seizing women and girls as young as 12 to marry off to their fighters. Other reports that have emerged state that the Taliban could be holding as many as 20,000 US-bound people back and evacuation flights are leaving empty out of the crisis-torn nation. 

READ MORE

Who is Khairullah Khairkhwa? Barack Obama freed dangerous Taliban leader from Gitmo in 2014

Video of Afghan girl weeping as Taliban seize control goes viral: ‘We'll die slowly’

What is the Badri 313?

According to an article, the Badri 313 unit is reportedly named after the Battle of Badr which was mentioned in the Qur'an in which the Prophet Mohammad had successfully defeated an enemy force with 313 men in 624 AD in Mecca. Other reports suggest the Taliban's special unit has been deployed for security reasons after the group seized the nation and has assumed full control. The unit is trained in employing tactical and attack training just like any other special forces at undisclosed Taliban-run locations. 

When the photos first came out it was assumed the militant group was indicating they could no longer be viewed as the robe-wearing farmers who turned to the military and now were equipped with modern artillery. The Taliban's lack of equipment is what puts them at a disadvantage against international forces including NATO. But if the new reports are true, the group now has an edge over rival forces especially with the night vision goggles they are now equipped with. These can help them combat night raids, as well as to carry out their own. There are no reports that confirm where the outfit received their high-tech military equipment from and there are several questions surrounding this as some suggest they have stolen or seized it from the US troops or defeated Afghan soldiers. 

According to a member of the Pakistan Defence website, the new photos released show the Taliban are a professional paramilitary force which one of the experts suggested is even better equipped than the Pak Army. India's Major General GG Dwivedi told India Today, "Taliban are highly ideological outfit and they draw their motivation from religious fervour and it is not a surprise to see them equipped. This is a danger to the entire region." Zaid Hamid, a Soviet-Afghan war veteran said the Afghan Taliban could very soon be found in the Indian-occupied Kashmir as well.