A shocking BBC report has exposed that almost half a million US-funded weapons and equipment have disappeared in Afghanistan since 2021, when the Taliban retook control.
According to several sources, including the latest United Nations report, the tale presents a concerning scenario of regional insecurity and international arms trade.
When the Taliban took over Afghanistan after the premature evacuation of American troops, they grabbed an estimated million weapons and other military equipment abandoned by deserting Afghan troops and withdrawing American troops. Among them were advanced American weapons such as M4 and M16 rifles, Humvees, MRAPs, and even Black Hawk helicopters.
According to UN officials, about half of that cache is now unaccounted for. The Taliban themselves admitted during a closed-door session of the UN Security Council Sanctions Committee in Doha that they couldn’t track at least 500,000 items of US military gear.
Even more concerning is the widespread proliferation of these weapons. UN intelligence confirms that al-Qaeda affiliates—including Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and Ansarullah in Yemen—have gained access to these weapons either directly or via black market sales.
The black market for US weapons in Afghanistan thrived after the Taliban takeover. One former journalist from Kandahar told the BBC that an open arms market existed for months, which has since moved to encrypted platforms like WhatsApp, where Taliban commanders and wealthy individuals trade US-made arms.
Even though the Taliban asserts that they keep all weapons safely, the UN's 2023 report observed that the group permitted local commanders to retain 20% of captured US weapons. This policy has resulted in internal militarization and power accumulation, making Afghanistan a center for illicit arms trafficking.
Former US President Donald Trump has reignited the debate over the lost arsenal, asserting that the United States left behind $85 billion worth of equipment. “Afghanistan is now one of the world’s biggest sellers of military equipment,” he said, vowing to reclaim it. But whistleblower organizations such as SIGAR (Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction) counter that the actual value is less and recovering these weapons is logistically and economically unfeasible.
Meanwhile, the Taliban keeps parading captured American weapons as trophies, consolidating their hold against competitors such as the National Resistance Front and ISIS-K. While they find it difficult to keep complex machinery such as helicopters because of lack of training, they've been able to deploy simpler weapons effectively in operations.
