WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.TV – Video footage of Taliban fighters parading in US-made armored vehicles, holding US-supplied firearms and boarding American Black Hawk helicopters, after the defeat of Afghan government forces has embarrassed the White House, as reported by Reuters. France24, Thursday (19/08/2021).
The Taliban, which easily seized control of the country in just 11 days, seized vast quantities of weaponry, equipment and ammunition from the Afghan armed forces, much of it supplied over the past two decades by Washington. All the weapons were simply handed over by the Afghan government troops.
Social media shows Taliban soldiers carrying M4 and M18 assault rifles and M24 sniper rifles, piloting the US-made Humvee armored all-terrain fighting vehicle and, in one video, apparently wearing US-style special forces tactical uniforms.
The images fueled the political attack on President Joe Biden with accusations of mishandling the US withdrawal from the country after 20 years of war.
Much of the advanced military equipment was seized by the Taliban from Afghan forces, who, despite two decades of training with tens of billions of dollars in US funding, surrendered the capital Kabul over the weekend, without a fight.
“We don’t have a complete and clear picture of where each piece of defensive equipment is going. But to be sure, quite a lot of that equipment fell into the hands of the Taliban,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday.
“Obviously, we figured they wouldn’t easily hand it back to us,” he said.
Republicans, of course, used that recognition to pounce on Biden.
“Thanks to Biden’s failed withdrawal, the Taliban are better prepared today than ever before,” said Republican national leader Ronna McDaniel.
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