Sadat, Sami Gen

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Name:

Ethnic:

Tajik

Date of birth:

1986

Function/Grade:

Ex Commander Afghan National Army Special Operations Command

History and Biodata:

1. Commander of the Afghan National Army Special Operations Command (ANASOC):
Major-General Sayed Abdul Karim (20140404)
LtGen Darid Ahmadi (20190525)
Maj. Gen. Hibatullah Alizai (20210704. 20210811)
Gen Sami Sadat (20210811)
ANASOC chief of staff:
MajGen Nabiullah Merzaee Nabiullah Mirzayi (20180808)
Background:

The Afghan National Army Special Operations Command (ANASOC) has been in existence for several years now. The command falls under the Afghan Ministry of Defense (MoD). The commando units that fall under ANASOC control have proven to be the most effective combat forces of the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF). The special operations command is advised by special operations forces (SOF) personnel from the NATO Special Operations Component Command – Afghanistan (NSOCC-A) / Special Operations Joint Task Force – Afghanistan (SOJTF-A). NSOCC-A / SOJTF-A is based at Bagram Air Base located an hour’s drive north of Kabul (the capital of Afghanistan).

ANASOC is a divisional level command with over 11,000 personnel authorized. There are two Special Operations Brigades and ten Special Operations Kandaks (SOKs) under ANASOC’s command. In addition, ANASOC has responsibility for the Commando school located at Camp Commando just outside of Kabul.(20160714)

The Afghan National Army Special Operations Command (ANASOC) officially transitioned into a Special Operations Corps on 20 August, which will see the organisation almost double in size to counter a resurgent Taliban.(20170901)

2. Previous Function:
Commander 215th Corps ANA Helmand Maiwand (20201200, 20210811)
Commander of the Afghan National Army Special Operations Command (ANASOC) (20210811)
3. Biodata:
Gen Sami Sadat Samiullah Sadat was born 1986 in Afghanistan. After graduation from school in Kabul, he studied military information operations in NATO school in Germany, he also holds a BBA, he then studied advance command and staff college in UK defence Academy and was graduated with highest distinction and also has finished his MA in Strategic Management and Leadership from UK Charter Management institute.

His work experience is mostly visible in security sector, he worked as Deputy Director for Strategic Communications and as Policy Advisor to the Minister of Interior in Afghanistan. Mr. Sadat is a founding member of Afghanistan Analysis and Awareness (A3) a Kabul based Think-tank. A3 is a strong lobby group focusing on Afghan-US and other Afghanistan friend countries to foster better strategic relations.

Lt Gen Sami Sadat said that eight months of Taliban rule has convinced many Afghans that military action is the only way forward.

He said operations could begin next month after the Islamic Eid festival, when he plans to return to Afghanistan.

The Taliban took control of the country in a rapid offensive last August.

The hard-line Islamists swept across the country in just 10 days, as the last US-led Nato forces left following a 20-year military campaign.

Speaking for the first time about the plans, Lt Gen Sadat told the BBC he and others would "do anything and everything in our powers to make sure Afghanistan is freed from the Taliban and a democratic system is re-established".(20220428)

The best available evidence continues to place Lt. Gen. Sami Sadat in the United States, specifically Northern Virginia, rather than inside Afghanistan. The AUF is headquartered there; a 2026 Afghan-US Veterans Summit was held at its headquarters in Lorton, Virginia, with Sadat participating. Foreign Policy likewise described him in August 2026 as based in Northern Virginia.

Sadat appears to occupy four roles simultaneously:

political leader → international fundraiser/lobbyist → military strategic leader → public spokesman.

The AUF says its leadership council is the supreme decision-making body and consists largely of former Afghan army and intelligence officers plus younger political and civil-society figures.

Operational command inside Afghanistan appears more decentralized. For example, on 24 September Sadat publicly promoted Abdul Basir Achakzai to brigadier general for his role as an AUF commandr.

That is consistent with an exile headquarters directing or coordinating networks of former ANDSF personnel and locally recruited cells rather than Sadat personally commanding troops in Afghanistan.

He speaks Dari, Pashtu and English.

Last modified:

30 September 2026

Established:

11 August 2021

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