Republican US lawmakers warned - on Sunday - that Russia, China and Iran could benefit from the efforts of former members of the Afghan security services, who have sensitive knowledge of how American operations are conducted and who remained in the country after the American withdrawal from it.
A report by Republican members of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee said the administration of President Joe Biden had failed to prioritize the evacuation of US-trained Afghan Special Forces and other elements of other elite units during the process of withdrawing US forces during a chaotic process to evacuate foreigners and Afghans. At risk from Kabul International Airport from 14-30 August 2021.
Thirteen American soldiers died during the operation, and hundreds of American citizens and tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans were left in the country after the withdrawal ended.
But the Biden administration described the operation as an "exceptional success", helping to move more than 124,000 Americans and Afghans to safety, and ending an "endless war" in which some 3,500 US and allied soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Afghans were killed.
Hundreds of US-trained Special Forces and other former security personnel and their families remain in Afghanistan.
The report - which came on the occasion of the first anniversary of the Taliban's control of Kabul - warned that these former soldiers "can be recruited or forced to work for one of America's opponents who maintain a presence in Afghanistan, such as Russia, China or Iran."
"This conclusion is especially true given reports that some Afghan ex-military personnel have fled to Iran," he said.
He described this possibility as a "great risk to national security", because these Afghans "know the tactics, methods, and procedures of the US military and intelligence services."
Meanwhile, Axios reported that the White House plans to distribute a memorandum in Congress defending Biden's decision to withdraw US troops from Afghanistan a year ago.
The report said that the memo states that Biden's move enhanced national security by releasing important military and intelligence personnel.