As the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they seized the weapons and equipment left behind by fleeing Afghan forces. A lot of these were provided to Afghanistan by the US. Video showed the advancing insurgents inspecting long lines of vehicles and opening crates of new firearms, communications gear and even military drones. “Everything that hasn’t been destroyed is the Taliban’s now,” Reuters quoted one US official.
Current and former US officials say there is concern those weapons could be used to kill civilians, be seized by other militant groups such as Islamic State to attack US-interests in the region, or even potentially be handed over to adversaries including China and Russia. The situation, experts say, shows the United States needs a better way to monitor equipment it gives to allies.
President Joe Biden’s administration is so concerned about the weapons that it is considering a number of options to pursue. The officials said launching airstrikes against the larger equipment, such as helicopters, has not been ruled out, but there is concern that would antagonize the Taliban at a time the United States’ main goal is evacuating people.
Here’s what we known about the weapons and equipment seized by Taliban:
– While there are no definitive numbers yet, the current intelligence assessment was that the Taliban are believed to control more than 2,000 armored vehicles, an official told Reuters.
– The seized armored vehicles include US Humvees, and up to 40 aircraft potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones.
– “We have already seen Taliban fighters armed with US-made weapons they seized from the Afghan forces,” Representative Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, told Reuters.
– Between 2002 and 2017, the United States gave the Afghan military an estimated $28 billion in weaponry, including guns, rockets, night-vision goggles and even small drones for intelligence gathering.
– The US also provided aircraft like the Blackhawk helicopters, which have been the most visible sign of military assistance, and were supposed to be the Afghan military’ biggest advantage over the Taliban.
– Between 2003 and 2016 the United States provided Afghan forces with 208 aircraft, according to the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). In the last week, many of those aircraft were most useful for Afghan pilots to escape the Taliban.
– Some planes were in the United States for maintenance and will stay. Those en route to Afghan forces will instead be used by the US military to help in the evacuation from Kabul.
– While they are concerned about the Taliban having access to the helicopters, the aircraft require frequent maintenance and many are complicated to fly without extensive training, officials said.
– Retired US Army General Joseph Votel, who oversaw US military operations in Afghanistan as head of US Central Command from 2016 to 2019, said most of the high-end hardware captured by the Taliban, including the aircraft, was not equipped with sensitive US technology.
– There is a more immediate concern about some of the easier- to-use weapons and equipment, such as night-vision goggles. “The ability to operate at night is a real game-changer,” one congressional aide told Reuters.
– Since 2003 the United States has provided Afghan forces with at least 600,000 infantry weapons including M16 assault rifles, 162,000 pieces of communication equipment, and 16,000 night-vision goggle devices.
– Smalls arms seized by the insurgents such as machine guns, mortars, as well as artillery pieces including howitzers, could give the Taliban an advantage against any resistance that could surface in historic anti-Taliban strongholds such as the Panjshir Valley northeast of Kabul, officials have said.
(With Reuters inputs)
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