PESHAWAR: Afghan Taliban, who were once regarded as a ragtag militia, are turning into a well-trained fighting force that uses combat uniform, sophisticated weapons and high-tech gadgets.

The Taliban’s fighting machine, a combination of clerics and students of madressahs, was an untrained force when it was launched in 1993-94. The untrained fighters wearing shalwar kameez were armed with rusty tanks, rocket launchers and machineguns which they had snatched from warlords and forces loyal to the-then Afghan regime.

Back then, the black turban came to be regarded as a trademark of the Taliban movement. But now the militants wear bullet-proof helmets and camouflage caps as part of their combat uniform. They use high-tech tools in combat operations against the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Nato forces, often using Google Earth to pinpoint their targets.

Peshawar-based journalist Shamim Shahid, who witnessed the fall of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, to the militia in 1996, says the militants didn’t look trained enough at the time. “Most of the Afghan Taliban were from Kandahar, and looked like simple people. They wore traditional knee-length shirts and baggy trousers that didn’t cover their ankles, black-and-white turbans and had rockets or AK-47 rifles slung on their shoulders,” he recalls.

“In contrast, their Arab or Pakistani comrades looked far smarter and better trained.”

However, latest video footage and propaganda material available on the internet show clearly that they have been transformed into a formidable force. Significantly, they now have an aggressive media network that disseminates information about their combat activities as well as propaganda literature in different languages, including English, Dari, Pashto and Urdu.

A video footage recorded in a vast mountainous area and probably released by the Haqqani network shows the Taliban fighters carrying out different combat exercises, including climbing rope and firing at balloons from short and long distances to improve their shooting skills. The footage also shows militants dressed in camouflage pants and jackets taking part in what can be described as a ‘passing-out parade’ at a high plateau.

Over the years, the militants have acquired automatic assault rifles and guns fitted with grenade-launcher assembly.

On the other side, the US and its Nato allies have spent billions of dollars on raising the ANA. According to a recent report released by the US Congressional Research Service, the US had provided nearly $93 billion in assistance to Afghanistan by the end of June last year, of which more than $56bn was spent on equipping and training the Afghan forces.

The report authored by Kenneth Katzman says the strength of the ANA is 185,000. Of them, 5,300 are commandos who have been trained by the US Special Forces. It says the number of Taliban fighters is about 25,000, including about 3,000 members of the Haqqani network and 1,000 Hizb-i-Islami fighters.