In early 2007, a program began to take one conventional infantry kandak battalion from each of the regional ANA corps, give them special training and equipment, and reorganise them based on the 75th Ranger Regiment of the United States Army.

The primary and bulk of the training was geared for the infantry toli (company), with a focus on individual skills and small unit tactics.

[12] Upon graduation, each commando kandak returned to its designated corps area along with an embedded U.S. Army Special Forces A-Team, and began going through an 18-week cycle: six weeks each of train-up, missions, and recovery.

[16] Some remnants of the ANA regrouped in the Panjshir Valley, where they joined the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front of Afghanistan.

[19] In October 2022, the Russian Armed Forces reportedly started to recruit former Afghan commandos for the invasion of Ukraine.

The tradition of wearing a maroon beret has still been retained, previously worn by the Afghan Commando Forces and similar formations since 1970.