Alexander Sychev
On August 15, 2021, the Taliban (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) came to power in Afghanistan. The United States and some NATO countries withdrew their troops - another twenty-year Washington plan to forcibly introduce democracy failed. It was not possible to subjugate the country to one's will. However, like the Soviet Union before that, and even earlier - Great Britain.
And now a year has passed. Analysts from various countries, including the United States, are trying to sum up the results and come to disappointing conclusions - they failed to make the country happy. Moreover, there is an increase in the radicalization of Afghan society. International terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (terrorist organizations banned in the Russian Federation) have received a fairly safe place for themselves, where they gather their supporters and organize new bases. The Defense Intelligence Agency estimates that about 2,000 fighters from ISIS-K, the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan, also known as Wilayat Khorasan, have gathered in Afghanistan.
The activity of these militants is growing. They have recently claimed responsibility for 80 attacks against the Shia minority. These actions also included the bombing of a mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, which killed 31 people and injured 60. For the period from April 1 to July 30, terrorist attacks were carried out by 90% more than in the previous quarter. Terrorists seek to undermine the power of the Taliban by destabilizing the situation inside the country with terrorist attacks.
Another result of twenty years of Washington's activity in Afghanistan was reported in a special report to the US Congress by the Inspector General for Operations "Invincible Sentinel" and "Guardian of Freedom", carried out by America in Afghanistan. This document addresses the question - where did all the weapons that the United States imported into Afghanistan for itself and the country's armed forces go? The Afghan disappearance was investigated after the parade that the Taliban held in Kabul last November - all the equipment of the armed militants was American.
According to the main control body of the Pentagon, about $7.1 billion worth of armaments passed into the hands of the Taliban and, apparently, not only. Planes and helicopters worth $923 million, ground combat equipment - $4.1 billion, various shooting weapons, including hundreds of thousands of service rifles and thousands of sniper rifles, are being recruited for $511.8 million. The rest fell on other military property: radio stations, demining systems, night vision devices, and so on. The inspector general did not give figures on the amount of abandoned American property.
To sweeten the pill, Pentagon overseers concluded the report by saying that the equipment received by the Taliban is "not the most up-to-date", "the operational condition of the equipment is not known and is likely to deteriorate without maintenance by American contractors." In general, you don't have to worry.