Fatemiyoun, a division of Afghan fighters within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, poses an extraordinary threat to Afghanistan, a former senior member of Afghanistan National Security Council said, 1TV, a Kabul based channel, reported on Saturday.
Aryan Sharifi, former head of Threat Assessment at National Security Council of Afghanistan said that the issue of Fatemiyoun, which has fought in Syrian civil war, has been consistently under consideration by the council since 2015.
“If the large division of Fatemiyoun returns to the country, this time’s civil war could be fully sectarian-based,” Sharifi said speaking at a roundtable at Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies.
Fatemiyoun Division was formed in 2013, two years after the Syria civil war began. The division is said to have between 10,000 and 20,000 members.
Ajmal Balochzada, a political expert, said that Iran recruited fighters from Afghanistan through pilgrimage and tourist agencies.
He suggested that efforts to build sensitivities in Afghanistan have already begun.
He said that Iran believes it has right to use fighters from Afghanistan to counter threats posed by ISIS.
More than religion, the Afghan recruits seem mainly driven by necessity.
“Iran is sheltering a large number of vulnerable Afghan refugees. It could possibly use them in regional conflicts,” said Ahmad Shuja, editor-in-chief of Georgetown Public Policy Review journal.
1TV said it tried to reach to Iranian embassy in Kabul for comment but failed.
