AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban has seized US weapons left in Afghanistan worth billions — possibly including 600,000 assault rifles, some 2,000 armored vehicles, and 40 aircraft, including Black Hawks, according to reports.
The US gave the Afghan military an estimated $28 billion in weaponry between 2002 and 2017 — including seven brand new helicopters delivered to Kabul just a month ago.
The war chest also included the supply of at least 600,000 infantry weapons — including M16 assault rifles — as well as 162,000 pieces of communication equipment and 16,000 night-vision goggles.
But the current assessment is that it includes 2,000 armored vehicles, including US Humvees, and up to 40 aircraft, potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones, another official said.
Meanwhile, the US military before winding up of operations in Afghanistan disabled scores of aircraft and armored vehicles as well as a high-tech rocket defense system at the Kabul airport on Monday, US Central Command head General Kenneth McKenzie said.
73 US aircraft at the Hamid Karzai International Airport were ‘demilitarised’, or rendered useless by US troops, General McKenzie said. “Those aircraft will never fly again... They’ll never be able to be operated by anyone,” he said. “Most of them are non-mission capable, to begin with. But certainly, they’ll never be able to be flown again.”
“Once the evacuation process ended, around 70 MRAP armored tactical vehicles, which can cost up to USD 1 million per piece, were disabled before leaving along with 27 Humvees,” he said.
The US also left behind the C-RAM system - counter rocket, artillery, and mortar that was used to protect the airport from rocket attacks. The system helped fend off a five-rocket barrage from the Islamic State on Monday.
- DNA INDIA
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