Sources have told Afghanistan International that Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has ordered the creation of a special 8,000-strong unit to oversee and secure the border with Pakistan.
The force, known as the “Hibati” unit, will reportedly receive higher salaries and benefits than other Taliban forces.
According to the sources, the special unit is being established specifically to maintain security along the border with Pakistan.
Once fully organised, responsibility for monitoring the Durand Line and directing any military movements, clashes or ceasefires along the frontier will be placed under the unit’s command.
Two sources in Kandahar and Kabul told Afghanistan International: “Existing soldiers will remain at their posts along the Durand Line, but overall control and command will rest with this new unit. Whether there is conflict or not, the authority to make decisions on all such matters will lie with this force.”
According to the sources, 4,000 members of the unit are already stationed at a brigade base in Kandahar’s Zhari district, where registration and organisational procedures are under way. Another 4,000 personnel are currently in Kabul undergoing the same process.
The sources said members of the unit will receive greater pay and privileges than other Taliban fighters. The force will operate directly under Hibatullah Akhundzada and will not fall within the organisational structure of the Taliban’s security ministries.
One source closely following the recruitment process said: “There is no ordinary soldier rank in this unit; recruitment begins at officer level. Their benefits are substantial and they answer only to Sheikh Sahib (Hibatullah Akhundzada). They are neither under the Ministry of Defence nor the Ministry of Interior.”
Sources within Taliban circles told Afghanistan International that most recruits come from Kandahar, Uruzgan and Helmand provinces, with a smaller number drawn from Zabul.
According to the sources, the unit is expected to receive advanced US-made military equipment left behind in Afghanistan, including night-vision devices, vehicles, operational helicopters and reconnaissance drones.
They added that once recruitment is complete, members of the force will receive training in topography, border patrol operations, preventing illegal crossings, anti-smuggling missions, surveillance, reconnaissance, tracking suspects, and the use of GPS technology, drone cameras and reconnaissance drones.
Regarding the command structure, sources said: “Four thousand personnel will remain in Kandahar and another four thousand in Kabul. They will be deployed on missions whenever Akhundzada issues a direct order.”
The sources did not identify a commander for the force but speculated that one of the Taliban’s regional commanders may eventually be appointed to lead it.
Analysts view the initiative as an effort by the Taliban leader to tighten control over border clashes, patrols, security posts and movements along the Durand Line.
The force is being formed at a time of heightened tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan. On Friday, June 19, the Taliban claimed to have carried out drone strikes in Pakistan’s Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, saying they had targeted ISIS-K facilities.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting confirmed a Taliban drone incursion but said one drone had been shot down before reaching its target. The Taliban Defence Ministry appears to have launched the operation in response to recent Pakistani strikes in Afghanistan’s Kunar, Khost and Paktia provinces.
