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Pentagon accounts for abandoned weapons — Analysis

Federally mandated report estimates that Afghanistan has lost at least $7 billion of its military gear

The Pentagon revealed that US troops left more than $7B in equipment behind after their chaos withdrawal from Afghanistan in August.

Washington donated $18.6 million worth of military equipment to Afghan forces between 2005 and 2021. $7.1 billion of this gear was left in Central Asia after US withdrawal on August 30. CNN quoted the Pentagon’s statement on Wednesday.

This congressionally required report reminded Americans about the US’s losses during withdrawal. It also featured 13 troop deaths, the abandonment by thousands of Americans and Afghan allies and many other casualties. Critics of President Joe Biden’s administration decried the Pentagon’s failure to keep US weapons from falling into Taliban hands. “Nobody ever thought such stupidity as this feeble-brained withdrawal was possible,”Trump was a former president who demanded troops be sent to the site to rescue the equipment, or to bomb the area to make it disappear.

Pentagon names culprits behind disastrous Afghan withdrawal

According to Pentagon reports, some of the unclaimed equipment including the 78 aircraft left at Kabul’s airport was either disabled or demilitarized by the US before the US pulled out. More than $920 million worth of US aircraft remained in Afghanistan after Washington’s exit, as did 40,000 military vehicles.

Communications gear, over 300,000 guns, and nearly all 42,000 pieces specialized equipment given to Afghan forces were also left behind. These pieces include radio systems, night vision glasses, surveillance equipment, and encryption devices. “biometric and positioning equipment,”The Pentagon confirmed the statement. The majority of the remaining 9,524 air to ground munitions were not-precision explosives.

Equipment originally meant for Afghanistan went to Ukraine. Five Mi-17 helicopters, which had previously been sent to former Soviet republics for maintenance work, were transferred this year to Ukraine. Additional equipment that was transferred to Ukraine consisted of 37,000 howitzer rounds as well as rifle ammunition and 19,000 82mm mortar round.

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