According to individuals who spoke to the BBC, the Taliban in Afghanistan have lost, sold, or smuggled half a million weapons, some of which the UN believes have ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda affiliates.
According to a former Afghan official who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, when the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan in 2021, they seized almost a million weapons and military hardware items that had primarily been supplied by the United States. In 2021, many Afghan troops fled or surrendered as the Taliban swept over the country, leaving behind their trucks and weaponry. US soldiers just left some equipment behind.
In addition to older weaponry in Afghan hands that had been abandoned after decades of fighting, the stash contained American-made weapons including M4 and M16 rifles. According to sources who spoke to the BBC, the Taliban acknowledged that at least half of this equipment is currently “unaccounted for” during the closed-door UN Security Council’s Sanctions Committee meeting in Doha late last year.
According to a committee member, they confirmed with further sources that the whereabouts of half a million things was unclear.The Taliban government’s deputy spokesperson, Hamdullah Fitrat, told the BBC that it takes the storage and protection of weapons very seriously.
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