IT'S CALLED MATERIEL
A windfall for the Taliban as it seizes vast amounts of weapons and military equipmentDavid Pugliese, Ottawa Citizen
As the Taliban settles into power in Afghanistan, it has seized an arsenal of military equipment that in some cases surpasses certain parts of the inventory of western militaries such as the Canadian Forces.
© Provided by Ottawa Citizen The Taliban have seized large amounts of Afghan military equipment such as this armoured vehicle shown operating outside Kabul in 2013.
Taliban fighters held a victory parade in Kandahar city on Wednesday, showing off dozens of U.S.-made armoured vehicles and other weapons that it captured during its lightning-speed victory over the Afghan army and police. A U.S.-made Black Hawk helicopter, trailing a Taliban flag, was also flown over the city to highlight the insurgents’ ability to operate more sophisticated equipment.
As the U.S. retreated from Afghanistan, it tried to disable at least some of the gear.
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told journalists that 70 armoured vehicles, 27 Humvee trucks and 73 aircraft were disabled before troops left Kabul. “Those aircraft will never fly again,” he said. “They’ll never be able to be operated by anyone.”
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told CNN the only usable gear left at the airport included some fire trucks and fork lifts.
But there are dozens of other key bases around Afghanistan that are now in the hands of the Taliban and, with that, tons of military equipment.
The Afghan army operated more than 600 armoured vehicles, similar to the Canadian Forces Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles. In contrast, the Canadian Forces has around 500 TAPVs.
The Afghan military also had more than 22,000 Humvees, 150 mine-proof vehicles, 8,000 transport trucks, 160 M113 armoured vehicles, more than 350,000 assault rifles, 64,000 assorted machine guns, 120,000 pistols and more than 170 artillery pieces, according to various reports. Also left behind were 33 transport helicopters, more than 30 Black Hawk choppers and another 40 light helicopters. In addition, there were around 65 assorted fixed-wing aircraft. The current state of the arsenal is not known.
How long that equipment will remain operable is open to question. The U.S. spent more than $500 million on 16 military transport aircraft for the Afghan military. But by 2013 the planes sat derelict in Kabul because of a lack of spare parts.
A Department of National Defence official said Wednesday only limited amounts of Canadian equipment was left in Afghanistan and that was years ago. That did not include weapons or large vehicles.
But Canada continued to fund Afghan security forces even after the military officially left in 2014, earmarking $330 million for that initiative.
Taliban fighters held a victory parade in Kandahar city on Wednesday, showing off dozens of U.S.-made armoured vehicles and other weapons that it captured during its lightning-speed victory over the Afghan army and police. A U.S.-made Black Hawk helicopter, trailing a Taliban flag, was also flown over the city to highlight the insurgents’ ability to operate more sophisticated equipment.
As the U.S. retreated from Afghanistan, it tried to disable at least some of the gear.
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, told journalists that 70 armoured vehicles, 27 Humvee trucks and 73 aircraft were disabled before troops left Kabul. “Those aircraft will never fly again,” he said. “They’ll never be able to be operated by anyone.”
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told CNN the only usable gear left at the airport included some fire trucks and fork lifts.
But there are dozens of other key bases around Afghanistan that are now in the hands of the Taliban and, with that, tons of military equipment.
The Afghan army operated more than 600 armoured vehicles, similar to the Canadian Forces Tactical Armoured Patrol Vehicles. In contrast, the Canadian Forces has around 500 TAPVs.
The Afghan military also had more than 22,000 Humvees, 150 mine-proof vehicles, 8,000 transport trucks, 160 M113 armoured vehicles, more than 350,000 assault rifles, 64,000 assorted machine guns, 120,000 pistols and more than 170 artillery pieces, according to various reports. Also left behind were 33 transport helicopters, more than 30 Black Hawk choppers and another 40 light helicopters. In addition, there were around 65 assorted fixed-wing aircraft. The current state of the arsenal is not known.
How long that equipment will remain operable is open to question. The U.S. spent more than $500 million on 16 military transport aircraft for the Afghan military. But by 2013 the planes sat derelict in Kabul because of a lack of spare parts.
A Department of National Defence official said Wednesday only limited amounts of Canadian equipment was left in Afghanistan and that was years ago. That did not include weapons or large vehicles.
But Canada continued to fund Afghan security forces even after the military officially left in 2014, earmarking $330 million for that initiative.
Canada’s former military installation, Camp Nathan Smith, in Kandahar city, was turned over to Afghan security forces but abandoned in late 2013. DAVID PUGLIESE/Postmedia
The Taliban are also now in control of large amounts of infrastructure built and paid for by western taxpayers. The Kandahar base, once home to thousands of Canadian military personnel, was captured intact.
Canada spent an estimated $50 million on the Dahla Dam project that the Canadian government declared a success. The dam still doesn’t function properly and needs hundreds of millions of dollars to be completed.
The Dahla Dam project was one of Canada’s more controversial aid programs in Afghanistan. Some $10 million of the budget went for security provided by an Afghan company whose owner was convicted of drug-related crimes and accused of being an interpreter for the Taliban.
When Canadian soldiers pulled out of Kandahar in 2011, they left Camp Nathan Smith — the former base for Canada’s provincial reconstruction team — to the Americans. A year later the U.S. turned it over to the Afghans. By the end of 2013 it was abandoned.
A similar pattern followed the withdrawal of Russian troops from Afghanistan in 1989. The Soviets had embarked on a much more ambitious aid program than the U.S. and NATO, building thousands of kilometres of roads, tunnels, bridges, schools, apartment buildings and military bases.
But, with the Taliban in charge, much of the infrastructure fell into disrepair.
One of the bridges is still intact, however. In February 1989, the Soviet army used the “Friendship Bridge” linking Afghanistan to Uzbekistan to complete its retreat from Afghanistan. Last week, troops from the NATO-trained Afghan national army used the same bridge to escape from the Taliban.
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