Taliban snubs Trump: $7B military equipment stays in Afghanistan
The Taliban have rejected Donald Trump's appeal for the return of equipment left in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of American forces in 2021. Amid increasingly loud discussions, it's estimated that about 1,000 American vehicles and artillery pieces, as well as an unspecified number of airplanes, were left behind.
In a speech on the eve of his presidential inauguration, Donald Trump conditioned further financial aid to Afghanistan on the return of American military equipment still in the hands of the Taliban. Comments from Afghanistan suggest that retrieving the weapons could be a very difficult task for the United States.
They don't want to return American equipment
According to sources such as the Hindustan Times and Stars and Stripes, a source familiar with the matter, wishing to remain anonymous, reports that the Taliban believe the United States should not only refrain from reclaiming the abandoned weapons but also provide additional resources to combat the Islamic State of Khorasan. "At the moment, we do not intend to comment on this," wrote Taliban spokesperson deputy Hamdullah Fetrat.
Military equipment valued at approximately $7 billion
The circumstances surrounding the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan have been repeatedly criticized by Donald Trump. It is estimated that the military equipment left behind may have a total value of around $7 billion.
Some American equipment was deliberately damaged during the evacuation, but much remained intact. Additionally, the Taliban managed to restore some of the weapons and vehicles that required repairs. The Defense Express portal estimated that this might include substantial quantities of M113 armored personnel carriers, Maxxpro armored vehicles, and MSFV armored vehicles, as well as several dozen M114 howitzers and a few planes and helicopters, including multirole UH-60 Black Hawks.
Much of the captured American military equipment appears in the annual parades marking the Taliban's return to power. Some observers see a chance to normalize relations with the U.S. in the over $9 billion in frozen currency reserves, to which the Taliban would like to gain access.
