A report from the New York Times indicates that gun dealers in Afghanistan are selling U.S. pistols, rifles, and other weapons in their stores.
According to the Times, the items being sold also include equipment like “binoculars and night-vision goggles.”
An Afghan vendor displays guns for sale as he waits for customers in his shop at a market in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province on September 4, 2021. (Javed Tanveer/AFP via Getty Images)
On Monday, Defense Department spokesman Maj. Rob Lodewick said, “Since 2005, the U.S. military has provided the Afghan national defense and security forces with many thousands of small arms.”
He noted that it is without a doubt that “large numbers of these weapons are probably now in Taliban hands.”
Taliban fighters stand guard near the venue of an open-air rally in a field on the outskirts of Kabul on October 3, 2021, as the Taliban supporters and senior figures held their first mass rally in a show of strength as they consolidate their rule of Afghanistan. (Hoshang Hashimi/AFP via Getty Images)
Breitbart News pointed to the UK Independent’s August 20, 2021, report showing, “The US spent about $83 billion over the last two decades on training and equipping the Afghan military. The sum included more than 75,000 vehicles, nearly 600,000 weapons and more than 200 aircraft.”
The paper also pointed out that President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan admitted that the administration did not have a “complete picture” on how much arms and equipment were left behind during the U.S. withdrawal, however, he noted, “a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.”
A Taliban fighter stands guard in a vehicle near the venue of an open-air rally in a field on the outskirts of Kabul on October 3, 2021. (Hoshang Hashimi/AFP via Getty Images)
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