Although the Afghan army has enabled the tools to defeat the movement
American weapons are booty in the hands of the Taliban in Afghanistan
An American-made Humvee jeep looted by the Taliban from the Afghan National Army.
AFP
picture
Over the past 20 years, the United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to train and equip the Afghan army, but this did not prevent the Afghan forces from collapsing in the face of the attack of the Taliban, who now have a huge arsenal from the enemy.
In July, US President Joe Biden said, "We've given our Afghan partners all the tools, let me stress that, all the tools," as he defended his decision to withdraw the remainder of American troops from the country and leave the Afghans to fight for their future.
However, the elements of the Afghan security forces did not show a great desire to fight. Thousands of them laid down their weapons, sometimes without the slightest resistance, and the "Taliban" insurgents, on their part, quickly got their hands on these "tools".
And spread widely on pro-Taliban websites, videos showing fighters from the movement confiscating a shipment of weapons here or there, most of which were provided by Western powers.
In other photos, soldiers surrendering to Taliban fighters in the northeastern city of Kunduz, armored vehicles equipped with rocket launchers appear in the hands of the rebels.
In the western city of Farah, fighters patrol the streets aboard a car painted with an eagle attacking a snake, the official insignia of the Afghan intelligence services.
Justin Fleshner of Conflict Armament Research explains that although US forces took with them "sophisticated" equipment during their withdrawal, the Taliban seized "vehicles, Humvees, light weapons and ammunition." .
big blessing
Experts believe that this unexpected booty greatly helped the "Taliban" rebels, who can also rely on their own sources to obtain weapons, and Pakistan was accused in particular of financing and arming the "Taliban" fighters, which it has always denied.
The expert at the College «S.
Rajaratnam for International Studies in Singapore, Raffaello Pantucci, said that this armament would not only help the "Taliban" rebels reach Kabul, but also "consolidate their authority" in the cities they controlled.
With the almost complete withdrawal of American forces, the Taliban insurgents find themselves in possession of a large number of American equipment, without having to spend a penny to acquire it.
"It's a very serious matter, obviously a blessing that has fallen on them," Pantucci added.
Weeks before the 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, the "Taliban" proudly displayed this arsenal and continues, according to the United Nations, to establish close ties with the "Al-Qaeda" organization behind these attacks.
Jason Amrini, a former US Special Forces operative who participated in the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban from power, explains that the Americans were prepared for the idea that Taliban fighters would grab some weapons, but cities quickly falling into insurgent hands were the most likely scenario. pessimistic about them.
"The United States prepared the Afghan National Army, assuming that the weapons and equipment could fall into the hands of the (Taliban)," he says, adding: "The current crisis was the worst-case scenario, when decisions were made to purchase" the equipment.
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At Kunduz airport, a Taliban member appears in a video on a red motorcycle, while watching a military helicopter on a nearby runway.
The same scene of jubilation can be observed in all the lands that the movement has taken over, but if you keep showing these scenes to excite its fighters, you will not be able to use this drone on the battlefield.
"This will be for propaganda purposes only," notes former CIA counterterrorism analyst Aki Peretz.
More useful light weapons, such as the mechanisms that will facilitate movement in these rugged terrain, will enhance this equipment, in addition to the morale decline of the Afghan army, the threat posed by the "Taliban."
Despite this, the Biden administration has confirmed that it will continue to equip the Afghan army, which is on the verge of collapse.
History repeats itself for the United States, after its withdrawal from Iraq, ISIS took control of the city of Mosul in mid-2014, and seized American weapons and Humvees.
The organization then used this equipment to “declare the caliphate in Iraq and Syria.” Like ISIS fighters in Mosul, Taliban recruits pose for smiling photos while carrying ammunition they captured in the cities they captured across Afghanistan.
"This withdrawal is turning into a defeat," Peretz says.
Although the US forces took with them, during their withdrawal, the equipment that is considered "advanced", but the "Taliban" rebels seized Humvees, light weapons and ammunition.
Experts say the unexpected weapons booty greatly helped the Taliban insurgents, who can also rely on their own sources for weapons.
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