Direct proof of use
The FN MAG family is represented in the Afghanistan record through the U.S. M240 series, which FN America identifies as a U.S.-service version of the FN MAG/MAG 58 family. In 2018, a NATO Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan story reported that Afghan National Army Special Operations Command soldiers at the ANASOC School of Excellence near Kabul received advanced weapons training on squad-level weapons including the M240 general-purpose machine gun.
Combat-use evidence is also present in U.S. Army historical case studies. Army University Press records a quick-reaction force in Afghanistan arriving with mine-resistant armored vehicles armed in part with an M240 machine gun, and a separate Afghanistan case study describes a platoon leader directing his M240 machine gun onto enemy targets in Kamusari.
Sources: FN M240B, Afghan Special Operators Grow Leaders, Vanguard of Valor, Vanguard of Valor II
Timeline
Army University Press case studies place M240 machine guns in U.S. tactical actions during the war, including vehicle-mounted quick-reaction-force armament and direct fire against enemy targets. Those studies support combat employment of the M240 in Afghanistan, while the 2018 DVIDS report documents the weapon in Afghan special-operator training during the Resolute Support period.
On 22 February 2018, forty Afghan special operators graduated from a six-week Noncommissioned Officers' Team Leader Course near Kabul. The course included advanced weapons training on individual and squad-level weapons, including the M240 general-purpose machine gun.
Sources: Afghan Special Operators Grow Leaders, Vanguard of Valor, Vanguard of Valor II
Narrative
In Afghanistan, the FN MAG-family record is best read through the M240 rather than through sources using the original FN MAG designation. The M240 served as a general-purpose and medium machine gun for U.S. forces and as a training weapon for Afghan partner forces. The official 2018 report ties the gun to ANASOC squad-leader preparation near Kabul, alongside other individual and squad-level weapons such as the M4, M9, M249, and RPG.
The documented combat roles were conventional machine-gun tasks: mounted firepower, support by fire, and suppression or engagement of enemy positions. Army University Press describes an M240 on a quick-reaction-force vehicle package during a fight involving Taliban forces, and another case study records an M240 being directed onto enemy targets during a firefight at Kamusari.
The available sources do not establish a single Afghanistan-wide inventory count or identify every operator by model variant. They do directly support M240-family use by U.S. forces and training use by Afghan special operators within the 2001 War in Afghanistan.
Sources: FN M240B, Afghan Special Operators Grow Leaders, Vanguard of Valor, Vanguard of Valor II
