LONDON, Apr 18 (Alliance News): British media have alleged that the Afghan Taliban sold millions of U.S.-supplied weapons left behind after the American military withdrawal to terrorist organizations, including groups linked to al-Qaeda.
According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), approximately 5 million weapons either went missing or were trafficked into the black market following the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.
The report cites United Nations sources confirming that some of these weapons have reached terrorist groups.
The UN Security Council’s monitoring committee on Afghanistan reported that the Taliban themselves admitted that at least half of the military hardware left behind could not be accounted for.
An official from the committee claimed around 500,000 pieces of military equipment have vanished from records.
The Taliban are reported to have seized nearly one million pieces of military gear after the U.S. withdrawal.
While the Taliban deny the allegations, claiming that all light and heavy weapons are well secured, the BBC says the UN’s 2023 report reveals that Taliban commanders were allegedly instructed to retain 20% of U.S. weapons, leading to a flourishing black market.
An Afghan journalist told the BBC that following the Taliban’s return to power, U.S. weapons were sold openly for about a year in Kandahar and other regions, although the trade has now moved underground.
Meanwhile, U.S.-based watchdog SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) also reported discrepancies in the inventory of American-supplied weapons post-2021.
The Taliban have officially denied all claims of weapon smuggling and insist that they take the safeguarding of military assets seriously.
