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Translated by: Shkëlzen Dema
- April 18, 2025 12:04 am
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Half a million US weapons seized from the Taliban in Afghanistan have been lost, sold or smuggled to militant groups, according to several sources. of the "BBC" – with the United Nations believing some have fallen into the hands of groups linked to Al-Qaeda.
The Taliban had control of about a million weapons and pieces of military equipment – much of it funded by the US – when they regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, according to a former Afghan official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
As the Taliban advanced through Afghanistan in 2021, many Afghan soldiers surrendered or fled, abandoning their weapons and vehicles. Some equipment was simply left behind by U.S. forces.
The weapons included US-made assault rifles such as the M4 and M16, as well as older weapons left over from decades of conflict.
According to several sources, at the closed-door UN Security Council Sanctions Committee in Doha late last year, the Taliban admitted that they do not know about about half of their equipment.
A person from the committee said they have verified several other sources about the lack of information about the location of half a million devices.
In a report in February, the UN noted that groups close to Al-Qaeda, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and the Ansarullah movement in Yemen, have had access to weapons captured from the Taliban or purchased on the black market.
A 2023 UN report said the Taliban had allowed local commanders to take 20% of the weapons left behind by the US, and that a black market had flourished as a result. These commanders are affiliated with the Taliban but usually have a level of autonomy in their regions.
