Rome, 27 May 2024 – The unit with the skull mask on its face advanced when the others stopped, the brave Afghans took action where the English and American helicopters were out of action. The Taliban knew their value and feared them as if they were devils. Captain Aijad Mohammadi34 years old, with an athlete’s physique, is one of the officers of the Afghanistan Special forces Brigade, the special forces, who fought until the last volley while Kabul fell in August 2021 and the American army, with the other forces of the Alliance, abandoned the country into the hands of the Taliban. The officer of the ‘skull faces’ together with his family, wife, children, three brothers, grandchildren in total 18 people, managed to get on the last plane of Operation Aquila omnia which brought around 5 thousand people to Italy, including soldiers, interpreters and collaborators of Western armies. The Taliban considered them traitors and their lives there were no longer worth anything. Today the government program Sai, Reception and Integration System, which lasts two years, is about to end and many refugees, including Aijad Mohammadi, who lives in Sestri Levante, have a question mark instead of the future.
Captain Mohammadi do you feel abandoned?
“I owe a lot to Italy but at the end of the month the economic assistance which also includes a house granted by the municipality and paid for by the Italian state will cease. They told us to vacate the house but we don’t know where to go. I work on call for security in a hotel, but without a stable job no one will rent you accommodation.”
Do you consider it your right?
“I risked my life a thousand times for my country and for the Western Alliance, I fought, I was wounded in battle, I was available tirelessly for Italians and Americans. I ask to work in Italy with dignity and support my family. And so did my brothers, one of whom was head of intelligence.”
What is your status today?
“They have obtained the qualification of refugees, but my dream is Italian citizenship. There are thousands of Afghans in Italy in limbo.”
Have you had any victims in your family?
“My mother died when our house, in south-eastern Afghanistan, was destroyed by artillery, one of my brothers was killed in the war. The Taliban captured him and cut off his head.”
She got away with it.
“I could have died every day because my unit carried out the most dangerous actions and incursions. The Taliban of the Red Forces, trained by the Russians, put a bounty on my head.”
How did you arrive in Italy?
“When the government was dissolved in the summer of 2020 and the country fell into the hands of the Taliban, we soldiers were told to abandon our uniform. My department was among the last to resist. Then my family and I had to hide for days, often changing places, even inside a well. The Taliban were looking for us to kill us. We remained in a hiding place until an Italian officer called and we reached the airport from where we left for Italy.”
How does your story as a soldier begin?
“I was in the police then in 2011, on the basis of an agreement with Italy, I attended the Military Academy of Modena and the application school of Aosta. When I returned to Afghanistan I immediately joined the army commandos, the special forces. I commanded a brigade of about 200 men ready for anything, super specialized.”
What were your tasks?
“We were equipped with light weapons, mortars and rocket launchers. The Allied command used us above all in the most inaccessible places together with the Alliance special forces where planes and helicopters struggled to intervene. Incursions, sudden blitzes, night attacks. We knew the territory , the people, the language, knew how to distinguish friends and enemies, often mixed. They moved by helicopter, by plane or in armored vehicles depending on the type of intervention”.
Men for impossible missions.
“Several times we intervened to help Alliance soldiers who had fallen into ambushes. We acted with our faces covered to avoid being recognised. Revenge against our families was always possible. We also fought against ISIS and they too did not take prisoners : they cut off heads.”
Where were Afghan commandos trained?
“In Italy, the United States, Australia. They taught us to use every type of weapon, to use survival techniques, to fight in urban areas, forests, deserts. We have always been very motivated, knowing we were acting for the good of humanity “.
Today’s Afghanistan.
“There is a central government while previously the head of each province did not answer to anyone. Furthermore, ISIS was defeated, also fought by the Taliban. The negative aspect is that it is a country without freedom, where women cannot study And the Taliban interpret Islamic law in their own way, wrongly.”
How did the community of Sestri Levante welcome you?
“Everyone loves us. Four of my five children, aged 11, 10, 7, 4 and 1, go to school and are happy. Like me, they dream of a future in Italy.”
This is the story of Commander Aijad, who returned from hell. He deserves to be helped.
