Most of those weapons were handed over to the Afghan army.
U.S. security experts are concerned. Taliban militants regularly send videos of their latest acquisitions. The Washington Post reports that the Taliban now have several M4 assault rifles made in the United States.
Very heavy stuff including some Black Hawk helicopters and high tech drones.
Beyond that kind of military hardware, the militant group now has advanced technology at its fingertips, and experts are particularly concerned, including the special equipment used by the U.S. military to identify Americans and Afghans helping the Allies.
In recent weeks, the Taliban have been arming themselves mainly with items handed over or handed over by Afghan national security forces, said Robert Cruise, an expert on Afghanistan at Stanford University. And they have a lot going on. Team Lists: From night vision goggles and telescopes to sophisticated sniper rifles. And everything from armored vehicles and artillery to flying weapons.
The big question is whether they can handle it.
The Washington Post reports that between 2005 and 2021, the United States supplied $ 15 billion worth of weapons to the Afghan military. For example, just before the crash, the newspaper said the Afghan Air Force had more than 40 U.S.-made MD-530 helicopters, and 30 UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters. There were at least 23 serviceable A-29 Super Dugano attack aircraft, some of which were modernized to drop laser-guided bombs. 174 M1151 HMMWVs were also issued, which are called Humvees.
The Taliban have captured dozens of Humvees, but they are said to have captured four Black Hawks and one Super Dugano. The Taliban may try to sell the Black Hawks. The Washington Post writes that the cost of one device is $ 10 million (.5 8.5 million). Taliban videos show Russian MI-17 helicopter training at Herat airport. Neighboring Uzbekistan announced this week that it had landed about 22 planes and 24 helicopters from Afghanistan. It is said that a quarter of all aircraft of the Afghanistan Air Force are now.
Most of the remaining U.S. equipment is said to have been paralyzed by the withdrawal of Afghan troops or flown into the Panjir Valley, north of Kabul. There, anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan, led by Ahmed Masood, the son of the assassinated leader of the Northern Alliance, Ahmed Shah Masood, are gathering again.
