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A The man accused of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump was apparently sending messages to British-trained Afghan commandos about recruiting them for the war in Ukraine, just three days before his arrest at a Florida golf course.

Ryan Wesley Routh was arrested on September 15 after allegedly pointing a powerful AK-47-style assault rifle through the bushes at Trump National Golf Club in West Palm Beach.

The 58-year-old former roofer from North Carolina had become fanatical in supporting Ukraine’s right to defend itself against Russian invasion. He allegedly contacted the Ukrainian International Legion with ideas that the Ukrainian military described as “delusional.”

In messages linked to Routh’s Whatsapp number and seen by The Independent and in the Newroom Lighthouse Reports investigation, discussions are underway with Afghan special forces about how to travel to Ukraine to fight.

This extraordinary revelation highlights the desperation of these Afghan commandos paid and trained by the British to fight the Taliban but abandoned after the fall of Kabul in 2021.

Many have fled Afghanistan and are now trying to survive in Iran, while the UK drags its feet on offering safe haven – despite promising to do so nine months ago.

The Independent, in collaboration with Lighthouse Reports and Afghan media outlet Etilaat Roz, investigated attempts to recruit these former soldiers as fighters in foreign wars with the lure of high salaries.

A former special forces soldier, Hafizullah, who lives in Iran, ended up communicating with Routh’s WhatsApp about possible aid to Ukraine. Hafizullah served for eight years in a specialized unit known as Commando Force 333, created and run by the British.

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He fled Afghanistan to Iran with his wife and baby in early 2022. In a sign of the scale of recruiters trying to lure former Afghan soldiers into combat, Hafizullah says he has received offers to fight in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria since he was in Iran. Iran.

Screenshots provided by Hafizullah of his WhatsApp communication show Routh apparently encouraging him to send him a resume on September 12 – three days before his arrest near Trump’s golf course in Florida.

The phone number Hafizullah was communicating with matches the one listed on Routh’s Fight for Ukraine website. The Whatsapp profile also matches the profile Routh allegedly used.

Routh is currently being held in a South Florida detention center, accused of attempting to assassinate Trump.

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Hafizullah, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, said he had been in contact with Routh on and off for two years. He said a friend of his, a former Afghan army commander, passed his number to Routh.

In a Whatsapp exchange with Routh’s number, Hafizullah said life in Iran was becoming more difficult every day. Routh’s number responded on September 12, 2024, telling him to send in his CV, adding: “You’re a doctor, aren’t you… The CV is a universal item.” Lots of samples online…google them. It’s really not important yet.

Hafizullah then replied: “Then I am waiting for you to call me whenever you want, I am ready”. Routh then sent a Google Doc link, asking him to “Submit this form.” The Independent could not open document link.

In addition to sending Routh’s number privately, Hafizullah was also part of a Whatsapp group with the same number, called “Soldiers for Ukraine”, created in April 2023. Hafizullah said the group had more than 100 members.

Routh previously told reporters in March 2023 that he was trying to bring together a group of Afghan veterans to fight in Ukraine, but his plan does not appear to have ever come to fruition.

Mr. Routh said The New York Times at the beginning of 2023, he was looking for recruits among Afghan soldiers who had fled the Taliban. Routh said he planned to move them from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine and that dozens of people had expressed interest. “We can probably buy passports through Pakistan since it’s such a corrupt country,” he said in an interview from Washington.

Hafizullah said Routh told the group about a month before his arrest that he was trying to find safe housing for their families in Kenya. Hafizullah said the former soldiers initially asked for a safe place for their families to live in exchange for fighting for Ukraine.

The former Triple said he and the group severed ties with Routh after his arrest.

Even though Routh’s recruiting efforts seemed gimmicky and will have ended after his detention, Hafizullah is certain that other overseas fight offers will still be open.

He requested help from the British Ministry of Defense (MoD), under a resettlement program called Arap Relocation and Assistance Policy (Arap) for Afghans who have worked closely with British forces. But Hafizullah, who said he sent his application two years ago, has not received a response from the UK.

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In February, the Defense Ministry announced it would review around 2,000 refusals from the Arap program within 12 weeks, following revelations that hundreds of Afghans with credible links to specialist units had been refused under the program.

But nine months on, the review is still ongoing, with Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard admitting “it shouldn’t have taken this long”.

Hafizullah, who said he is living partially in hiding in Iran for fear of deportation, still hopes the Defense Ministry’s investigation could help him. But he warned that desperate soldiers could sign up to fight overseas to earn money to feed their families.

He said he had heard of recruitment efforts to hire Afghans to fight for Russia and Syria, explaining: “If you agree to fight somewhere, they will give you a card and you will have sufficient freedom until what they send you. »

Hafizullah said he knew 25 people had gone to fight for Russia, two of whom were from the Triple units. “When these 25 people arrived in Russia, I lost all contact with them,” he said, adding that he also knows Afghans deployed in Syria for six months straight.

He concluded: “I have three options: get killed in Afghanistan, get killed fighting on the front in another country or commit suicide.”

Speaking about his expectation of help from the UK, he added: “It really hurts. All these guys who are left behind, we know each other, we were paid by the British government, but now no one hears our voice.

A Ministry of Defense spokesperson said: “As the Minister for the Armed Forces made clear to Parliament recently, we understand the frustration with the slow pace of the review.

“The key issues in the review have been resolved and we are working hard to ensure eligible former triples and their families can move to start a new life in the UK.”

“The ‘Triple Review’ remains a high priority for the Government and Ministers have directed that it be completed quickly, and with the care and diligence it deserves. »