London (Web Desk): A recent report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has revealed troubling findings about the American-made weapons left behind in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal in 2021.
According to the report, approximately 500,000 of these weapons have either been smuggled or sold to various terrorist organizations, including factions affiliated with al-Qaeda. These arms, originally supplied to bolster Afghan security forces, have now reportedly fallen into the wrong hands, significantly raising alarms about regional and global security.
The source cites a United Nations (UN) report stating that the Taliban themselves have acknowledged they cannot track nearly half of the US-supplied military hardware now in their possession.
It is further alleged that the Taliban leadership gave local commanders permission to keep up to 20% of the weaponry, a move that appears to have facilitated widespread sales on the black market.
A journalist based in Kandahar added weight to these claims by confirming that, for at least a year after the Taliban's resurgence, American arms were openly sold in local markets before such trade moved underground.
Despite mounting evidence, the Taliban’s deputy spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat, has rejected the allegations, calling them unfounded and claiming that all military equipment remains under Taliban control. Nonetheless, the scale of the missing equipment is considerable.
According to the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), around 250,000 firearms and 18,000 night-vision devices were left behind, representing an arsenal roughly equivalent to what is used by the US Marine Corps.
Former US President Donald Trump has previously stated that the total value of abandoned military gear reached approximately $85 billion.
Analysts warn that the redistribution of these weapons could exacerbate instability in an already volatile region, undermining international counterterrorism efforts and threatening the security of neighboring states.
Pakistan’s security agencies have previously highlighted that US-origin weapons, smuggled from Afghanistan.
Security officials have linked several recent terrorist incidents to US-origin weapons believed to have been smuggled across the Afghan border. These include M32 grenade launchers, M16/A4 rifles, M4 carbines, and night vision equipment, all reportedly recovered during attacks and operations in areas like North Waziristan, Bajaur, Mir Ali, and Zhob.
Such arms were also recovered following the Balochistan Liberation Army's attack on a naval base in Turbat and an attempted attack on the Gwadar Port Authority.
The Pakistani Foreign Ministry has labeled the unchecked flow of these arms a serious threat to national security.
Earlier this week, a Washington Post investigation corroborated these concerns, confirming that groups such as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been increasingly using US-made weapons. In one instance, American-made M16 rifles used in the March 11 attack on the Jaffar Express were traced back to US military stockpiles through their serial numbers, underlining the urgent need for stronger international oversight and arms tracking in post-conflict Afghanistan.
