Taliban air defense specialists are being sent to the People’s Republic of China.
Author: Andrey Serenko, special correspondent of Nezavisimaya Gazeta
China will assist the Afghan Taliban in training specialists for the air defense forces (AD). Relevant agreements have already been reached between Beijing and Kabul. The first Taliban graduates of Chinese air defense courses may be integrated into the personal security system of the Taliban emir in Kandahar.
On September 13 of this year, the Taliban Ministry of Defense prepared a secret document (a copy is available to NG), signed by the Taliban government’s Minister of Defense, Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid. The document addresses a sensitive issue – military cooperation between the Taliban and China. According to the document, it is addressed by Mawlawi Yaqub to the “respected command of the air defense forces” of the Taliban army and concerns the task of “training professional personnel for the radar system” of the Taliban’s AD.
“According to the decision and plan of the Ministry of Defense leadership,” the Minister of Defense informs the Taliban AD command, “it has been decided to send 22 people to the People’s Republic of China for professional training and skill enhancement in radar systems.”
Mawlawi Yaqub specifically emphasizes that “an agreement has also been reached with the authorities of the said country,” i.e., China. Accordingly, the head of the Taliban military department instructed the Taliban army’s AD management “to select capable, loyal, and qualified individuals, approve them, and submit their full biographies to the Directorate of Foreign Relations of the Ministry of Defense to organize their dispatch.”
A copy of this document was sent by Mawlawi Yaqub to the Taliban Strategic Intelligence Directorate, which will likely oversee the process of selecting and sending a group of Taliban cadets to China, as well as monitor their stay in the Middle Kingdom, including potential recruitment of Taliban AD specialists by Chinese intelligence services.
Rumors of military cooperation between the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the PRC have been circulating for a long time. Now there is documented evidence of such a partnership – at least in the area of AD specialist training.
It should be noted that since mid-2025, the issue of protecting Taliban leaders from potential air strikes has become significantly more pressing. After the elimination in June of this year of a substantial portion of the leadership of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) by Israeli agents using drones, Afghan Taliban leaders began to perceive this dangerous scenario as applicable to themselves. Especially given that unknown drones have been appearing regularly and frequently in the skies over Kandahar – the city hosting the official base of Taliban emir Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhund – which Afghan observers believe belong to Pakistan or the United States.
According to Afghan sources, over the past summer, the entourage of Mawlawi Haibatullah paid special attention to ensuring his security, including protection against potential aerial threats. It is believed that strike drones could be used against the Taliban leader – not only by Americans or the creative militants of “Wilayat Khorasan” (the Afghan branch of the Islamic State – a terrorist organization banned in Russia), but also by some dissatisfied senior Taliban commanders who have specialists – UAV operators – at their disposal.
Creating their own version of Israel’s “Iron Dome” air defense system over Kandahar, or at least over the residence of the Taliban emir, has become one of the strategic priorities for Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhund’s team. Although the emir’s entourage includes many talented advisors from Tehran, he apparently decided not to rely on Iranian air defense specialists, given the unfortunate fate of the IRGC generals in June. According to the document by Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqub dated September 13, the Taliban leaders are placing their main emphasis on China for training at least part of the key specialists for their air defense system.
It is clear that this choice is motivated both by the impressive military-technical achievements of the PLA, including in the field of air defense, and by the relatively high level of mutual trust between Kabul and Beijing. Although it cannot be said that Taliban-Chinese relations are entirely smooth, it seems that Emir Haibatullah and his team currently have few other options.
If the reports regarding the training of specialists in China for the emir’s personal air defense system are confirmed, it will indicate substantial “Chinese backing” for the security of the top leadership of the “fierce mullahs” regime in Afghanistan. Accordingly, it would also highlight China’s significant potential to influence this security – in the broadest sense.
