Afghanistan has been receiving weapons and vehicles; including Humvees, guns, planes, night-vision goggles and etc, from the United States in their support for the country; before the Taliban seized control.
Following the Taliban’s seizure of the country and the Afghan forces fleeing, the Taliban has gotten their hands on the US-made special weapons and vehicles left behind by the Afghan forces.
According to Reuters, a US official said that “everything that hasn’t been destroyed is the Taliban’s now.”
There are growing concerns among the current and former officials in the US that the weapons could be used by the Taliban to kill civilians, or be seized by ISIS to attack the interests of the US in the region.
US intelligence believe that the Taliban are in control of more than 2,000 armoured vehicles and aircraft, including:
- US Humvees
- UH-60 Black Hawks
- Scout attack helicopters
- ScanEagle military drones
The US has provided about 208 aircraft to Afghanistan over the years, from 2003 to 2016.
Some of the immediate concerns include the Taliban’s potential usage of the night vision googles, which enhances their capability to fight at night.
More than 600,000 infantry weapons which included M16s, 162,000 communications equipment and 16,000 night vision goggles were supplied to the Afghan forces since 2003.
Images source: Afghanistan Ministry of Defence Facebook