Pakistan warns of security threats from US military equipment left in Afghanistan

Islamabad: After US President Donald Trump’s promise to reclaim military equipment left behind in Afghanistan during the US troop withdrawal in 2021, Pakistan’s Foreign Office expressed concerns about the security risks posed by these advanced weapons.

According to Foreign Office spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan, the weapons abandoned after the troop pullout in August 2021 have been a major security concern for Pakistan. He added that terrorist groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have used these weapons to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

The spokesperson further mentioned that Pakistan has repeatedly urged the authorities in Kabul to take action to prevent these weapons from falling into the wrong hands.

Ahead of his presidential inauguration, Trump warned Afghanistan during a public rally that the US would stop all financial aid unless the country returned US military equipment, including aircraft, vehicles, and communications gear. “If we’re going to pay billions of dollars a year, tell them we’re not going to give them the money unless they give back our military equipment,” Trump said.

However, reports suggest that the Taliban refused to return any military equipment and instead asked the US for more advanced weapons to fight ISIS (Daesh). A 2022 report by the US Department of Defense revealed that the US left behind $7 billion worth of military equipment, much of which was seized by the Taliban as they quickly took control of Afghanistan.

In the final weeks of the US pullout, US forces attempted to destroy or dismantle as much military equipment as possible. However, a significant amount was still captured by the Taliban in August 2021.