US left behind $7 bn worth military equipment in Afghanistan post Taliban takeover: Report

The United States military had left behind an estimated $7.12 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan during the chaotic withdrawal that concluded on August 30, a DOD report accessed by American broadcaster CNN revealed on Wednesday, April 27. Those military equipment has now fallen into the hands of the enemies—the Taliban. The US Defense Department also has “no plans” to either retrieve the left weaponry from the Taliban “or destroy" the equipment, the wide-ranging congressional mandated DoD report stated. Equipment intended for ANDSF now likely in hands of terrorists US military had handed the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) equipment ranging from aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, and communications equipment amounting to $18.6 billion between 2005 to August 2021. A huge number of military hardware was seized by the Taliban extremists at the time of the hasty Afghanistan withdrawal, which was censured by lawmakers on both the Republican and Democratic Party sides. "Much of the remaining equipment left in Afghanistan requires specialized maintenance that DoD contractors previously provided to Afghan forces in the form of technical knowledge and support," the report had claimed. Congress had asked the US Department of Defense to submit a detailed document "regarding the disposition of United States property, equipment and supplies provided to Afghan forces that were destroyed, taken out of or remain in Afghanistan," according to the report. Credit: Associated Press Moreover, a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) report revealed that the US-backed Afghan military possessed more than 150 aircraft which may have been captured by the Taliban. National security adviser Jake Sullivan had also acknowledged the fact at the presser later, stating that the US does not have a "complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defence materials has gone, but certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban." The US military aircraft comprised four C-130 transport aircraft, 23 Brazilian made A-29 "Super Tucano" turboprop ground-attack aircraft, 45 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, and 50 smaller MD-530 choppers. Footages had also emerged indicating the Taliban struggling to fly the Black Hawk helicopter at an abandoned US airfield. #Taliban flying US Helicopter with what appears to be a poor soul hung to die #NewTaliban #BidenDisaster#Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/REgcyLTN8p — Behind Enemy Lines (@Texasexpatriate) August 30, 2021 US military formerly deployed in Afghanistan has admitted to leaving behind fighter aircrafts worth $923.3 million. It revealed procuring 78 aircraft stationed at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul for the former government of Afghanistan, which had later collapsed. The army claimed that it had demilitarized these combat jets that were rendered inoperational. Separately, 9,524 air-to-ground munitions, worth $6.54 million were also left during the disorderly evacuations. The "remaining aircraft munitions stock are non-precision munitions," said the US DoD. The US also left 96,000 military vehicles, including 12,000 military Humvees, at the time of exiting Kabul. "The operational condition of the remaining vehicles" in Afghanistan is "unknown," the US military said, not mentioning that it was non-functional. At least 300,000 of the total 427,300 weapons that were purchased for Afghan forces were also left in Afghanistan, the location of most of that weaponry is “unknown.” 1,537,000 "speciality munitions" and "common small arms ammunition” worth $48 million is also missing. Taliban fighters patrol through Kabul, Afghanistan. Pictures of such fighters posing with captured aircraft, weapons and vehicles have been shown on social media. Credit: Rahmat Gul/AP The report exposed that “all of the communications equipment” including the base station, mobile, man-portable and hand-held commercial and military radio systems, and associated transmitters and encryption devices were left in Afghanistan following the US forces' withdrawal. There are also 42,000 night vision, surveillance, "biometric and positioning equipment" that are unaccounted for. Among other weaponry that has fallen in hands of the terrorists includes explosive ordinance disposal, demining equipment, 17,500 "pieces of explosive detection, electronic countermeasure, disposal and personal protective equipment” according to the report. While it remains unclear how much of the weaponry the US military could evacuate out of the war-torn region, it recently announced that five Mi-17 helicopters that had been in Afghanistan would be sent to Ukraine. DoD revealed that they planned to transfer the helicopters to Ukraine in January 2022 but the decision was delayed until later.

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US left behind $7 bn worth military equipment in Afghanistan post Taliban takeover: Report

Much of the remaining equipment left in Afghanistan requires specialized maintenance that DoD contractors previously provided to Afghan forces.

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