HERAT, Afghanistan- Iran’s recruitment of Afghan men from the regions along the common border to fight in Syria, may be contributing to a shortage of Army recruits in western Afghanistan, NATO officials have said.
The Afghan security forces have struggled to keep their numbers up across the country.
However, recruitment numbers are particularly low in Herat and neighbor provinces in western Afghanistan.
“If Afghanistan recruiting command can’t keep pace, that’s a problem,” said U.S. Army Col. Steve Lutsky, deputy commander of NATO’s Train Advise Assist Command-West.
Speaking with a select group of reporters at the command’s headquarters in the province, Lutsky said Iran may be partly to blame for the shortage.
“We believe they are recruiting Afghan males to fight … in Syria,” he said. “That’s what we’ve been told by multiple people, which is one of the reasons why our recruiting is low in this area.”
Lutsky said he could understand why some Afghans would enlist.
“Iran pays better than the Afghan army, and you don’t have to potentially fight your family members,” he said.
Italian army Col. Roberto Viglietta, whose county heads TACC-West, agreed. “There is a lot of Iran in [the] region.”
In January, Human Rights Watch reported Iran had recruited thousands of Afghan refugees and migrants living in the country to join pro-government militias fighting in Syria, offering financial incentives and legal residence. In some cases, Afghans said they were threatened with deportation to Afghanistan, if they refused.

Source: Stars and Stripes, 23 June 2016