Written by: Amanda Angulo
Last week, during the surrender of the Afghan army, the Taliban had taken control over billions of dollars worth of American-made weapons and equipment, such as small arms, Humvees, pickup trucks, drones, and aircrafts. Yet, due to Biden’s chaos overseas, it is unclear to U.S. officials how many weapons and equipment were taken, and how much is sitting on bases and small combat outposts.
This uncertainty over the amount of American-made weapons taken from the Taliban creates fears over a market exchange between terrorist groups and insurgents of the massive arsenal left behind and seized.
“What we are seeing now is these weapons, which have ended up in the hands of the Taliban, will probably circulate in the region for many decades to come,” said the Flemish Peace Institute interim director, Nils Duquet. “At the moment, they’re very instrumental [because] if you want to control territory, you need small arms.” Duquet stated.
These unattended guns and ammunition boxes create a threat and security risk for the countries surrounding Afghanistan because those weapons could be sold and exchanged to militias from places such as Pakistan, according to the safety and violence initiative director at University of Cape Town, Guy Lamb. Ultimately, the Taliban can capitalize on Biden’s charity gifts and sell them on the open market.
“What happens in these situations is that arms brokers will make themselves known [and] offer cash or valuable goods in exchange for those kinds of weapons,” Lamb stated. The Taliban now have access to at least 600,000 light weapons, 20,000 hand grenades, 4,700 Humvees, and more. Justine Fleischner of Conflict Armament Research claimed that there is “a high probability” that some equipment has already landed in the hands of Al-Qaeda and ISIS fighters, “given the chaotic situation on the ground and complex local interlinkages between these groups.”
Biden and his administration are at fault for the careless withdrawal of American troops in Afghanistan. Now that billions of dollars worth of weaponry have been surrendered and left unattended, Biden is responsible for the possible creation of a market exchange of U.S. arms and equipment.
Picture from: Daily Mail
