Taliban Now Hold ‘Billions of Dollars’ US Abandoned Arsenals
US spent a total of about $80 billion on Afghan troops and police since 2005 through the congressional Afghanistan Security Forces Fund
The Taliban fighters were seen seizing the US abandoned arsenals worth $85 billion after troops of the Afghan National Army surrendered.
This happened after the fall of Kabul and other provincial capitals to the insurgent group.
According to the latest report by Government Accounting Office (GAO) and Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction (SIGAR), more than $18 billion went to Afghan Army’s equipment and transportation.
Read Also
After a Long Pause, Drone Strikes ‘Re-Inaugurated’ by US
A Telegraph correspondent Will Brown tweeted a list of the Taliban’s new materiel.
A mind-blowing graphic in today’s Times on what $85bn worth of lost equipment means in practice for the Taliban: pic.twitter.com/GDcuNQbb6P
— Will Brown (@_Will_Brown) August 29, 2021
In the equipment section, GAO said that the US left 22,174 Humvees, 8,000 Trucks, 358,530 Assault rifles, and 64,363 machine guns.
Moreover, 42,000 trucks and SUVs, 169 armored personal carriers, and 155 mine-proof vehicles are also part of the arsenals.
Whereas, SIGAR said a total of 109 helicopters ranging different models and 65 fixed-wing aircraft are now in the custody of the Taliban.
The report further highlighted the main Afghan army garrisons and weapon dumps were at Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz, Kabul, Herat, Gardez, Lashkar Gah, and Kandahar.
A total of 300,699 Afghan security personnel were in power in the country till July, the report says.
US spent a total of about $80 billion on Afghan troops and police since 2005 through the congressional Afghanistan Security Forces Fund.
While making advances last week, the Taliban have seized US military biometrics devices that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted coalition forces.
