US Weapons Left in Afghanistan Sold to Militant Groups, Sources Tell BBC

HALF A MILLION Weapons obtained by the Taliban in Afghanistan Have Be Been Lost, Sold Or Smuggled to Militant Groups, Sources Have The BBC – With The Believing That SOME SOME Have Into The Hands of Al-Qaeda affiliates.

The Taliban Took Control Of The One Million Weapons and Pieces of Milign Equipment – What Had Mostly Funded By The US – When It’s Regained Control of Afghanistan in 2021According to A former Afghan Official Who Spoke to the BBC anonymously.

As The Taliban Advanced Through in 2021, Many Afghan Soldiers Surrendered or Fled, Abandoning Their Weapons and Vehicles. Some Equipment Was Simply Left Left By Us Forces.

The Cache included American firearms, Such as M4 and M16 Rifles, As well as Ild Old Weapons in Afghan Possession That Had Been Left Abdord From Decades.

Sources Have The BBC That, At The Closed-Door Un Security Council’s Sanctions in Doha Late Last Year, The Taliban Admitted That At Least Half of This Equipment Is Now “Unaccounted”.

A Person From The Committee Said Those Had Verified That Sources That The Whereabouts of Half A Million Items Was Unknown.

In a Report in FebruaryThe U Uzbekista, Including Tehrekista, The East Turstan Movement, And Yemen’s Ansarullah Movement, Were Accessing Taliban-Captured Weapons or Buying Them on The Black Market.

The BBC Put This to Hamdullah Fitrat, Deputy Spokesperson for the Taliban Government, Who Told The BBC It Took The Protection and Storage of Weapons Very Seriously.

“All light and heavy weapons are securely Stored. We Strongly Reject Claims of Smuggling or Loss,” He said.

At 2023 a postponement Said the Taliban Allowed Local Commanders to Retain 20% Seized US Weapons, And That The Black Market was Thriving As A Result. These commanders are even affiliated to the Taliban But Often Have A Degree Of Autonomy in Their Regions.

The UN NETED THAT “Gifting of Weapons is Widely Practiced Local Commanders and Fighters to Consolidate Power. The Black Market Remains A Rich Source of Weaponry For The Taliban”.

A former Journalist in Kandahar Told An Open Arms Market Existed There A Year After The Taliban Takeover, But Has Semce Gone Underground Via The Messaging Service Whatsapp. On It, Wealthy Individuals and Local Commanders Trade New and Used Used Used And Equipment – Mostly The Weapons Left By Us-Backed Forces.

The Number of Weapons Recorded by The US Body Tasked With Afghan Reconstruction Projects, Known As Sigar, Is Lower Those Those Cited by Our Sources, But in a 2022 Report It Acknowledged It was Unable to Get Accurate Information.

The Reason Given Ther Was Equipment has been fueled and supplied by Various US Departments and Organisations Over the Years.

Sigar Added That One Had Been “Shortfalls and Issues With Dod’s (Department of Defense) Processes for Tracking Equipment in Afghanistan” More Than A Decade.

It is also criticized The State Department, Adding: “State Provided US Limited, Inaccurate, and Untimely Information About The Equipment and Funds It Left.” The Department Denied This Was The Case.

This is Very Much A Political Issue, and US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he will reclaim weapons from afghanistan. Hey Said That $ 85bn (£ 66bn) of Advanced Weaponry Was Left There.

“Afghanistan Is One’s Military Equipment in The World, You Know Why? Thys’re Seling The Equipment That We Left,” Trump Said During His First Cabinet Meeting of the New Administration.

“I Want To Look Into. If We Need To Pay Them, That’s Fine, But We Want Military Equipment Back.”

The President’s Figure has been disputed, As Money Spent In Afghanistan Also Funded Training And Salaries. Also, Afghanistan Did Not Feature in The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s Top 25 Largest Exporters of Major Arms Last Year.

In Response to Trump’s Comments, The Taliban’s Chief Spokesperson, Told Afghan State TV: “We Seized These Administration and Will Use Them to the Country and Counter Any Threats.”

The Taliban Regularly Parades US Weapons, Including at Bagram Airfield, Which served As The Main US-NATO base, and Frame Them As Symbols of Victory and Legitimacy.

Afterdrawing in 2021, the Pentagent Claimed Us Disabled, But The Taliban Have a Capable Military Using US Weapons and Gained Superiority Over the National Resistance Front and Islamic State Khorasan Province – The Regional Affiliate of the Islamic State Group.

A source from the former Afghan Government Told The BBC’s “Hundreds” of Unused humvees, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (Mraps), and Black Hawk Helicopters Remain in Kandahar Warehouses.

The Taliban has been showcased Some Ther Captured Equipment in Propaganda Videos, But Their Ability to Operate and Maintain Advanced Machinery, Such Hawk Helicopters, Is Limited Due To A Lack Of Trained Personnel and Technical Expertise. Much of this Sophisticated Equipment Remains non-operational.

However, The Taliban Have Be Able To The More StraightForward Equipment, Like Humvees and Small Arms, in Their Operations.

While Donald Trump Appears Determined to Reclaim US Weapons from Afghanistan, The Former Head of Sigar, John Sopko, Says Such An Attempt Would Be Pointless.

At A Recent Event Hosted by The Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, He Said That “The Cost Would Exceed ITS Actual Value”.

Whether Trump Will Take Any Action Remains to Be Seen, But Meantime, Concerns About The Region and Access by Militant Groups Remain Unrups.