logo
US weapons left in Afghanistan sold to militant groups, sources tell BBC

US weapons left in Afghanistan sold to militant groups, sources tell BBC

BBC News17-04-2025

Half a million weapons obtained by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been lost, sold or smuggled to militant groups, sources have told the BBC - with the UN believing that some have fallen into the hands of al-Qaeda affiliates.The Taliban took control of around one million weapons and pieces of military equipment - which had mostly been funded by the US - when it regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, according to a former Afghan official who spoke to the BBC anonymously.As the Taliban advanced through Afghanistan in 2021, many Afghan soldiers surrendered or fled, abandoning their weapons and vehicles. Some equipment was simply left behind by US forces.The cache included American-made firearms, such as M4 and M16 rifles, as well as other older weapons in Afghan possession that had been left behind from decades of conflict.Sources have told the BBC that, at the closed-door UN Security Council's Sanctions Committee in Doha late last year, the Taliban admitted that at least half of this equipment is now "unaccounted" for.A person from the committee said they had verified with other sources that the whereabouts of half a million items was unknown.In a report in February, the UN stated that al-Qaeda affiliates, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and Yemen's Ansarullah movement, were accessing Taliban-captured weapons or buying them on the black market.The BBC put this to Hamdullah Fitrat, deputy spokesperson for the Taliban government, who told the BBC it took the protection and storage of weapons very seriously."All light and heavy weapons are securely stored. We strongly reject claims of smuggling or loss," he said.
A 2023 UN report said the Taliban allowed local commanders to retain 20% of seized US weapons, and that the black market was thriving as a result. These commanders are affiliated to the Taliban but often have a degree of autonomy in their regions.The UN noted that the "gifting of weapons is widely practiced between local commanders and fighters to consolidate power. The black market remains a rich source of weaponry for the Taliban".A former journalist in the city of Kandahar told the BBC that an open arms market existed there for a year after the Taliban takeover, but has since gone underground via the messaging service WhatsApp. On it, wealthy individuals and local commanders trade new and used US weapons and equipment - mostly the weapons left by US-backed forces.The number of weapons recorded by the US body tasked with overseeing Afghan reconstruction projects, known as Sigar, is lower than those cited by our sources, but in a 2022 report it acknowledged it was unable to get accurate information. The reason given for this was that equipment has been funded and supplied by various US departments and organisations over the years. Sigar added that there had been "shortfalls and issues with DoD's [Department of Defense] processes for tracking equipment in Afghanistan" for more than a decade. It also criticised the State Department, adding: "State provided us limited, inaccurate, and untimely information about the equipment and funds it left behind." The department denied this was the case.
This is very much a political issue, and US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that he will reclaim weapons from Afghanistan. He said that $85bn (£66bn) of advanced weaponry was left there."Afghanistan is one of the biggest sellers of military equipment in the world, you know why? They're selling the equipment that we left," Trump said during his first cabinet meeting of the new administration."I want to look into this. If we need to pay them, that's fine, but we want our military equipment back."The president's figure has been disputed, as money spent in Afghanistan also funded training and salaries. Also, Afghanistan did not feature in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute's top 25 largest exporters of major arms last year.In response to Trump's comments, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban's chief spokesperson, told Afghan state TV: "We seized these weapons from the previous administration and will use them to defend the country and counter any threats."The Taliban regularly parades US weapons, including at Bagram Airfield, which served as the main US-Nato base, and frame them as symbols of victory and legitimacy.After withdrawing in 2021, the Pentagon claimed US equipment left in Afghanistan was disabled, but the Taliban have since built a capable military using US weapons and gained superiority over rival groups, such as the National Resistance Front and Islamic State Khorasan Province - the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group.A source from the former Afghan government told the BBC that "hundreds" of unused Humvees, mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles (MRAPs), and Black Hawk helicopters remain in Kandahar warehouses.The Taliban has showcased some of this captured equipment in propaganda videos, but their ability to operate and maintain advanced machinery, such as Black Hawk helicopters, is limited due to a lack of trained personnel and technical expertise. Much of this sophisticated equipment remains non-operational.However, the Taliban have been able to utilise more straightforward equipment, like Humvees and small arms, in their operations.While Donald Trump appears determined to reclaim US weapons from Afghanistan, the former head of Sigar, John Sopko, says such an attempt would be pointless.At a recent event hosted by the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, he said that "the cost would exceed its actual value".Whether Trump will take any action remains to be seen, but, in the meantime, concerns about the spread of weapons in the region and access by militant groups remain unresolved.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

I was 15 when my nude pics were leaked – grown men sent them around at the football club & everyone blamed ME
I was 15 when my nude pics were leaked – grown men sent them around at the football club & everyone blamed ME

Scottish Sun

time15 minutes ago

  • Scottish Sun

I was 15 when my nude pics were leaked – grown men sent them around at the football club & everyone blamed ME

NOT KIDDING I was 15 when my nude pics were leaked – grown men sent them around at the football club & everyone blamed ME Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) LIKE many young girls, Jess Davies wanted to impress her school crush and decided to send him an explicit photo of herself. Little did the 15-year-old know that he would send it around the school and she would become a victim of image abuse. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Jess Davies revealed her nude photo was leaked at just 15-years-old Credit: Instagram/jessdavies "That image got bluetoothed around my school, and then it got shared around my hometown, which was a small hometown in Wales, everyone knows everyone," she explained on the Should I Delete That podcast. Image-based sexual abuse is a criminal offence, it's when someone takes, shares, or threatens to share sexually explicit images or videos of a person without their knowledge or consent, and with the aim of causing them distress or harm. This can include digitally altered images, also known as 'deepfakes' - something Jess has gone on to lobby the government to include in the Online Harms Safety Bill. Now 32, Jess has opened up about the trauma it caused and more shockingly, how she was blamed for the abuse. She revealed that once the photo had circulated in her hometown, it was then shared to grown adult men on the local football team. Instead of seeing Jess as a victim, whose private photo was shared without her consent, people blamed her. "Everyone knew my age because it was a small town, and yet, the whole narrative was around how it was my fault," Jess added. "That I shouldn't have sent it, what kind of girl are you? "There was never any conversation around why are men in their twenties and thirties passing around a child's image?" Jess was left as a teenage girl worrying about how to navigate the situation, and she decided she had to laugh it off. 2 Now, she advocates for sexual abuse victims Credit: Instagram/jessdavies Vicky Pattison shares deepfake porn clip of herself as she warns of dangers on C4 doc She revealed that boys in year 7 would run up and ask for a hug as they had seen the image as well. "I was laughing but secretly, this was humiliating," she said. In the end, her parents also found out about the image, as her nan was told about it from one of the men on the football team, where the image was being circulated. Now, as Jess has gotten older, she realises that the way people treated her for the image was not okay and that she was held more accountable than the grown men sharing the image. It has now led Jess to become an advocate for female rights and sexual abuse. Her BBC documentary 'Deepfake Porn: Could You Be Next' was used to lobby the UK government to criminalise deepfake porn. Jess also has a new book, No One Wants To See Your Dick, a guide for surviving the digital age to help us understand and tackle online misogyny and question society's understanding of consent.

R Kelly's lawyers accuse prison officials of ‘soliciting inmate to kill him'
R Kelly's lawyers accuse prison officials of ‘soliciting inmate to kill him'

Metro

time34 minutes ago

  • Metro

R Kelly's lawyers accuse prison officials of ‘soliciting inmate to kill him'

R Kelly's lawyers are fighting to get him released from jail after claiming his life is in danger. The American singer and producer, real name Robert Sylvester Kelly, was once credited as 'the King of R&B', releasing 18 albums and having over 75 million albums and singles, as well as working on albums by Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Justin Bieber and Mary J. Blige. He won Grammy, Billboard and American Music Awards, but his career abruptly ended in 2019 following his arrest and subsequent sentencing for racketeering and sex trafficking charges involving the sexual abuse of minors. Kelly, 58, is currently serving a 31-year combined sentence at a prison in North Carolina. However, his legal team have now filed an emergency motion calling from his immediate release from federal custody to home detention. In a filing made on Tuesday, reviewed by Variety, his attorney Beau B. Brindley claims that the team had 'explicit evidence that officials solicited an inmate to murder him while in custody'. His counsel provided a sworn declaration from Mikeal Glenn Stine, a terminally ill inmate, who said that officials 'offered him freedom in his final days in exchange for Kelly's murder'. Stine, a member of the neo-Nazi prison gang Aryan Brotherhood, claimed that he was told Kelly and his attorneys were planning to expose damaging information, as with the filing alleging that officials violated attorney-client privilege by intercepting personal correspondence. He also stated that officials told him he would be charged with Kelly's murder, but that evidence would be mishandled and there would be no conviction. After arriving at Kelly's unit in March, Stine said he was prepared to kill the rapper but changed his mind and ended up telling the rapper that 'Bureau of Prisons officials directed him to carry out his murder'. Kelly's lawyers have claimed that last month they were told a second member of the Aryan Brotherhood who was told by officials to kill both Kelly and Stine. They have said Kelly is in danger remaining in custody with other members of the Brotherhood. 'The threat to Mr. Kelly's life continues each day that no action is taken,' they wrote in the filing. 'More A.B. members are accumulating at his facility. More than one has already been approached about carrying out his murder. 'One of them will surely do what Mr. Stine has not, thereby burying the truth about what happened in this case along with Robert Kelly.' More Trending In 2023 Kelly was sentenced to 20 years in prison for child sex crimes in Chicago while already serving a 30-year prison sentence over sex trafficking and racketeering charges in New York. The judge ruled he could serve 19 years at the same time, meaning the child sex crimes only added one year to his existing sentence. His convictions included three counts of coercing minors into sexual activity and three of producing sex tapes involving a minor. Metro has contacted the U.S. Attorney's Office for comment. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Taylor Swift fans convinced she's secretly married Travis Kelce MORE: It's been 20 years since Brad Pitt 'left' Jennifer Aniston for Angelina Jolie – have we learned anything? MORE: Beyoncé giving away free concert tickets to London shows after 'poor sales'

Argentina's Supreme Court upholds prison sentence for ex-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Argentina's Supreme Court upholds prison sentence for ex-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

The Independent

time38 minutes ago

  • The Independent

Argentina's Supreme Court upholds prison sentence for ex-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store