US military equipment left behind during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has ended up in the hands of Pakistani militants, the country’s prime minister claimed Monday.
The high-tech equipment, which may include firearms with laser and thermal sight systems, is reportedly being used by the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, in a battle that has intensified in recent months with Pakistani security. force.
Pakistan Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said the development “emerges as a new challenge” in a meeting with reporters in Islamabad on Monday.
Kakar argued that a “coordinated approach” must be taken to address the threat of US military equipment being left in Pakistan, adding that Pakistan’s security forces will continue to “defend our homes, children, mosques and places of worship.”
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar said the development “emerges as a new challenge.” Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
$7 billion worth of military equipment was in the hands of the Western-backed Afghan government before it collapsed. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The Pakistani Taliban are allies but not affiliated with the Afghan Taliban.
Pakistani security officials believe the militant group was either given the equipment or bought it from its Afghan allies.
Pakistani Taliban fighters have been able to target security forces from a distance with their new weapons, which they could not do before, a Pakistani official told the Associated Press.
The Pakistani Taliban may have bought some equipment from the Afghan Taliban.AFP via Getty Images
More than $7 billion in US-provided military equipment — including Humvees, mine-resistant MRAPs, military aircraft and ammunition — was in the hands of the Western-backed Afghan government when it collapsed in August 2021 amid the Biden administration’s withdrawal from the country, according to the inspector general. Department of Defense.
Some 316,260 small arms — including rifles, sniper rifles, pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers and rocket-propelled howitzers — as well as communications, explosive detection, night vision and other surveillance equipment were also in the Kabul government’s inventory as the Taliban recovered . dominate Afghanistan.
Islamabad has also expressed concern that Pakistani Taliban fighters have been given cover by the Afghan Taliban across the border, allowing them to evade capture by Pakistani security forces.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
