Afghan gun stores selling American military weapons

Gun stores in Afghanistan have included U.S. military weapons in their stores. Just as this website’s readers suspected, U.S. military weapons provided to the Afghan security forces, abandoned by the later, ended up in Taliban hands. However, the supply exceeded their demand and the Taliban is not on a major war footing. They apparently did not need all that was left behind.

From Breitbart:

On Monday, Defense Department spokesman Maj. Rob Lodewick said, “Since 2005, the U.S. military has provided the Afghan national defense and security forces with many thousands of small arms.”

He noted that it is without a doubt that “large numbers of these weapons are probably now in Taliban hands.”

Breitbart News pointed to the UK Independent’s August 20, 2021, report showing, “The US spent about $83 billion over the last two decades on training and equipping the Afghan military. The sum included more than 75,000 vehicles, nearly 600,000 weapons and more than 200 aircraft.”

The paper also pointed out that President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan admitted that the administration did not have a “complete picture” on how much arms and equipment were left behind during the U.S. withdrawal, however, he noted, “a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.”

Breitbart has more at this link. This New York Times article is one of the sources that Breitbart used, for those with a New York Times subscription.

Category: Afghanistan