After the US left Afghanistan, Taliban has become the most armed terrorist group in the world

Gennady Charodeyev

This sensational confession was made at a briefing in Washington by the US President's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Quoting a US official, the Business Insider news portal noted that the White House does not seem to have a complete picture of where all the equipment handed over to the Afghan National Security Forces went.

“Of course, we do not have the feeling that the Taliban will willingly hand over the seized weapons to us at the airport”, - Sullivan said.

Now this is no longer a rumor. Pentagon sources said the US has invested more than $ 80 billion in equipping and training Afghan security forces since the start of the war in Afghanistan, which the US launched to destroy al-Qaeda in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The world media was bypassed by a picture taken by someone from the Taliban - on it an American military helicopter Black Hawk at the Kandahar international airport. The militants said that the United States allegedly handed him over to the "Afghan people".

"Lies! - said Jake Sullivan. “These vehicles were not transferred to the Taliban. They were turned over to the Afghan National Security Forces for self-defense. ”

“We must admit that mistakes have been made, especially in assessing the military capability of the Afghan army. I think even the Taliban did not expect such an easy victory, ”said Josep Borrell, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, in Brussels.

So what did the fleeing US military leave to the Taliban as a "legacy"? To this question Novye Izvestia was answered by the TASS military observer, reserve colonel Viktor Litovkin :

- There are no exact figures yet, but, according to available data, the Taliban got the weapons of the American troops, which, due to circumstances, did not have time to take out of the country. This - and armored vehicles, and the legendary "Javelins", other portable missile systems, grenade launchers, a whole sea of small arms of all calibers, and most importantly - a huge amount of ammunition. The Americans abandoned the means of communication, that is, everything that the American army is famous for: beacons, all kinds of night vision devices that allow aimed fire at night , target fixing devices, and even small drones.

According to the American media, the Taliban had 22 EMB-314 Super Tucano light attack aircraft, four C-130H Hercules transport aircraft, 24 Cessna 208B light aircraft and 18 PC-12 turboprop aircraft. To them should be added 41 American MD-530F helicopters and up to 30 legendary UH-60A Black Hawk ("Black Hawk"). The Americans also abandoned their tanks (the names are being clarified).

“We must take into account,” Colonel Litovkin said, “that over the decades of their existence, the Taliban have undergone military training in Pakistani training camps. Many of them know how to handle US military equipment. And they were once trained by American instructors to fight Soviet troops in Afghanistan.

The expert emphasized that the prudent Americans, apparently, did not abandon so many of their expensive equipment in Afghanistan for nothing. This is not only because tanks and drones were difficult and expensive to evacuate. The expectation that the Taliban will use American weapons means that they will need spare parts and ammunition. Where to get all this? USA only.

Former US President Donald Trump called the operation to withdraw American troops from Kabul "the most poorly organized in the history of the world." In an interview withFox News, he complained that the situation in Afghanistan is aggravated by the fact that Russia and China can gain access to abandoned American military equipment.

“We have the latest tanks and missiles there. I wanted to take all the military equipment because I was sure that government forces would not fight the Taliban. We have brand new Black Hawk helicopters there for billions of dollars. Now Russia and China will get access to them”, - Trump was indignant.

The former US president also noted that the US costs of the operation in Afghanistan are comparable to the military budget of Russia.

“The Americans are not fools: the weapons that they abandoned in Afghanistan, they managed to spoil when leaving,” said Vladimir Batyuk, a political scientist, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada, to Novye Izvestia. - And what did not have time - the Afghan marauders completed. The presence of modern American weapons will still not change the balance of power in Afghanistan. The Taliban are not some bearded men in sandals. It is a superbly armed and trained war machine. The Taliban will seize much more weapons from the Afghan army, including the old Soviet model. There are tanks, helicopters and Kalashnikovs.

According to the expert, one should not attach serious importance to Trump's words. "He spoke about the special interest in American weapons of the Russians, it seems to me, hypothetically. The question is, what such military novelties did the United States supply to the Afghan army? And then, we do not know how the relations between the Islamic state and Moscow will develop in the near future”, - Vladimir Batyuk emphasized.

The situation in Afghanistan and the approach to it next week will be discussed by the G7 leaders via video link. In the meantime, the White House is considering the possibility of imposing sanctions. Joe Biden is somehow trying to act out the situation.