Billions in U.S. military weaponry left behind by Afghan troops have been seized by the Taliban, including assault guns, rocket launchers, and 2,000 armored vehicles in addition to 40 aircraft, including UH-60 Black Hawks and military drones and night-vision goggles.
After President Biden’s hasty and botched handling of the departure of U.S. soldiers, the Taliban controlled much of Afghanistan in just two weeks.
Along with overthrowing the Afghan government, the rebels were able to take nearly all of the weaponry and equipment that had been left behind by the Afghan troops when they fled the country.
Social media images and videos show Taliban members evaluating the enormous new war chest, which contains at least 600,000 infantry weapons, 162,000 pieces of communication equipment, and 16,000 night-vision goggles.
In the footage, rebels are shown joyfully unpacking boxes of recently acquired military weaponry, which include M-4 and M-16 assault rifles, M24 sniper rifles, and M2.50 caliber machine guns.
Other pictures and videos showed the Taliban encircling US Humvees and A-29 Super Tucano plane.
Between 2003 and 2016, the United States provided the Afghan military with an estimated $28 billion in weapons.
According to a 2017 Government Accountability Office study, the United States provided about 75,898 vehicles, 599,690 weaponry systems, and 208 aircraft to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).
Following former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s visit to the White House last month, the United States continued to supply aircraft to the Afghans, sending 35 brand new Black Hawk helicopters and three A-29s to Kabul, adding to the Afghan inventory of 211 U.S.-supplied aircraft.
In addition, according to a report released last year by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the US sent 7,035 machine guns, 4,702 Humvees, 20,040 hand grenades, 2,520 explosives, and 1,394 grenade launchers from 2017 to 2019.
It was announced last month that the U.S. would continue to send aircraft to Afghanistan after former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani visited the White House. 35 brand new Black Hawk helicopters and three A-29 aircraft were sent to Kabul, bringing the total number of U.S aircraft in Afghanistan’s inventory to 211 aircraft.
In addition to military equipment, the Taliban captured US military biometrics devices that might aid in the identification of Afghans who supported diplomatic and coalition troops, as well as those who worked with the military.
The HIIDE (Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment) devices include identifiable biometric data such as iris scans and fingerprints, as well as biographical information that may be utilized to access massive centralized databases.
Such gadgets have been one of the United States military’s most valuable weapons in the worldwide fight on terror, and they assisted the US in identifying Osama bin Laden during the 2011 raid on his Pakistani hideaway.
The Biden administration is contemplating a number of alternatives, including conducting attacks against bigger equipment, such as helicopters.
They are concerned, however, that it will aggravate the Taliban at a time when the US is focused on evacuating American civilians.
