Military, Modern Day, News

Taliban Restore Abandoned US Military Vehicles & Weapons

6 July 2021 – The US Military confirmed that it had officially evacuated from Bagram Airfield. After over two decades, a battle with seemingly no end was on its way to ending once and for all. But who won, and who lost? The US Military received a mix of reactions. Some were relieved, some frustrated, and some even infuriated.

Still, the war had to end – one day or another.

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Abandoned
Abandoned US Military vehicles have since been restored by the Taliban.(Afghanistan Ministry of Defense)

8 July 2021 – “Nearly 20 years of experience has shown us that the current security situation only confirms that “just one more year” of fighting in Afghanistan is not a solution but a recipe for being there indefinitely,” explained President Biden. “It’s up to Afghans to make the decision about the future of their country.”

Afghanistan Under the Taliban Rule

15 August 2021 – The Taliban successfully captured Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. It was the final nail in the decades-long Afghanistan War, which confirmed the victory of the Taliban over the country. President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, and his government collapsed.

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The fall resulted in the reinstation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

The US Military left a goldmine of military supplies upon their exit. And, of course, it fell right into the hands of the people the Americans were fighting to begin with. Afghanistan’s Ministry of National Defence (MND) confirmed restoring a significant number of American vehicles and weapons that were left behind.

The Restoration Spree

So far, the Taliban have restored at least 341 vehicles and 1,050 military-graded weapons. In a social media post, the MND boasted that the technical team of the Taliban’s Abu Dujana Brigade had restored at least 300 vehicles.

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These vehicles include:

  • 150 Kamaz trucks 
  • 125 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (Humvee trucks)
  • 15 Humvee ambulances
  • 10 Aradeh Purcliffs
  • 4 Aradeh Taylors
  • 2 Assault Tanks

“It should be mentioned that hundreds of other vehicles have been restored due to the efforts of the engineering and technical teams of the Ministry of National Defense,” the social media statement said.

Losing count already? That’s not all.

In another post, the MND confirmed that the 203 Mansouri Corps restored 41 other vehicles. These include 30 Humvee trucks, 6 international, and 5 ranger vehicles. Additionally, the Taliban engineers restored at least 1,050 Russian and American weapons, including rocket launchers, assault rifles, and heavy guns.

Afghan
US Aircrew vacate from Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Kylee Gardner)

As per Bakhtar News Agency – Afghanistan’s state-owned media outlet – most of the restored vehicles were intentionally damaged by the Americans during their pull out. Now, of course, you can not take hundreds upon hundreds of vehicles out of a country at war.

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So what do you do? You puncture some holes, cut some wires, pull out some plugs, and pray that the enemy does not end up fixing the problem. But that is exactly what the Taliban did, and now they have advanced American machinery at their disposal.

People are not Happy!

According to some estimates, Biden’s disastrous pull out from Afghanistan left up to $24 billion worth of arms and equipment in the Taliban’s hands. People took to Twitter to share their emotions – or bash President Biden.

While sharing the pictures of restored American machinery, Congresswoman Mary Miller said in a Twitter post: “No one was fired for this. No one resigned. Biden should be impeached, and his team of so-called “experts” should be ashamed.”

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Mark Krikorian, Executive Director Center for Immigration Studies, shared the footage with a simple caption: Your tax dollars at work.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Advocate Fernando Amandi Sr. posted: INCONCEIVABLE: Billions of dollars in operational US military equipment left behind by the Biden administration’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Outrageous and treasonous.

Humvee maintenance
An American Humvee undergoing maintenance in Afghanistan. The US Military left hundreds behind.

Foreign Policy Analyst Nile Gardiner called the restored vehicles “Biden’s gift to the Taliban. This president has been a disaster.” 

Did the American military operatives do a sloppy job? Or did they simply make the mistake of underestimating the Taliban? In any case, the Taliban government sits on billions and billions of dollars worth of American weaponry. And people are not happy about it!