Devika Desai
Celebratory gunfire resounded across the Afghan capital on Tuesday as the Taliban took control of the airport following the withdrawal of the last U.S. troops, marking the end of a 20-year war that left the Islamist group stronger than it was in 2001.
© Provided by National Post Taliban fighters with captured M117 vehicles at Kabul airport.
Shaky video footage distributed by the Taliban showed fighters entering the airport after the last U.S. troops flew out on a C-17 aircraft a minute before midnight, ending a hasty exit for Washington and its NATO allies.
“It is a historical day and a historical moment,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference at the airport after the departure. “We are proud of these moments, that we liberated our country from a great power.”
The Taliban’s shockingly quick seizure of the country coupled with the West’s hurried departure has resulted in the terrorist group acquiring a hefty arsenal of weaponry and equipment, left behind by fleeing Afghan forces.
U.S. officials have estimated that $83 billion worth of weaponry and equipment had been invested in the Afghan force, but have not been able to say how much of that has fallen into the hands of Taliban fighters, post-takeover.
Video posted to social media shows the insurgents inspecting long lines of vehicles and opening crates of new firearms, communications gear and even military drones.
Shaky video footage distributed by the Taliban showed fighters entering the airport after the last U.S. troops flew out on a C-17 aircraft a minute before midnight, ending a hasty exit for Washington and its NATO allies.
“It is a historical day and a historical moment,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference at the airport after the departure. “We are proud of these moments, that we liberated our country from a great power.”
The Taliban’s shockingly quick seizure of the country coupled with the West’s hurried departure has resulted in the terrorist group acquiring a hefty arsenal of weaponry and equipment, left behind by fleeing Afghan forces.
U.S. officials have estimated that $83 billion worth of weaponry and equipment had been invested in the Afghan force, but have not been able to say how much of that has fallen into the hands of Taliban fighters, post-takeover.
Video posted to social media shows the insurgents inspecting long lines of vehicles and opening crates of new firearms, communications gear and even military drones.
The Taliban took control of the tank park at Kandahar Airport, Large number of tanks and other heavy weapons seized by Taliban.
Follow me ➡ @TalibTimes pic.twitter.com/4XiKEB16kT— Talib Times (@TalibTimes) August 30, 2021
“Everything that hasn’t been destroyed is the Taliban ‘s now,” one U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters.
While officials haven’t yet tallied definitive numbers, it is estimated that the Taliban own over 2,000 armoured vehicles, including U.S. Humvees, as well as up to 40 aircraft, potentially including UH-60 Black Hawks, scout attack helicopters, and ScanEagle military drones.
L.A Times foreign correspondent Nabih Bulos has reported that the Taliban have also acquired some Afghan air force planes, including A29 Super Tucanos and MD 530s helicopters, some of which appear to be disabled.
In another video posted to Twitter, Bulos records several Taliban fighters fully donned in U.S military gear, including ballistic vests and helmets, entering a once Washington-controlled hangar to examine chinook helicopter abandoned by the U.S..
It’s unclear whether the Taliban have anyone trained to fly the aircraft, officials have said, but concerns have risen over what they could do with the rest of the equipment with fears that they may be used to kill civilians, be seized by Islamic State militants or be potentially handed over to political adversaries such as China or Russia.
Video: Taliban celebrate as last U.S. army flight leaves Afghanistan (cbc.ca)
A recent video posted last week by Joseph Dempsey, research associate for Defence & Military Analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, shows a Blackhawk helicopter taxiing around a tarmac at an Afghan airport, allegedly by a Taliban official.
Several days later, a video posted by the Talib Times, deemed the official news source for the Islamic Emirate Afghanistan, shows a Blackhawk plane in the sky, patrolling the city of Kandahar, with a man hanging off the helicopter.
The video was captioned: “The first flight of black hawk.”
The first flight of black hawk. pic.twitter.com/7NTWlrFJ0y— Talib Times (@TalibTimes) August 30, 2021
The account also confirmed that a large number of army tanks, including M117s have been captured by Taliban fighters.
#Taliban captured some heavy amount of M1117 armoured vehicles at #Kabul airport
Follow me ➡ @TalibTimes pic.twitter.com/vso8DHSw7Y— Talib Times (@TalibTimes) August 30, 2021
Several of the aircraft left behind have been rendered inoperable, tweeted Dempsey.
Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, the head of U.S. Central Command, confirmed to reporters Monday afternoon that more than 150 military vehicles and aircraft had been disabled before leaving Kabul.
US forces shut down or damaged some helicopters and other vehicles before leaving Kabul airport: pic.twitter.com/Ujit4zrP3T— Talib Times (@TalibTimes) August 31, 2021
“We demilitarized those systems so that they’ll never be used again,” McKenzie said. “We felt it more important to protect our forces than to bring those systems back.”
With additional files from Reuters
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