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🇺🇸 United States /Conflict & Security

25 Years After 9/11, the Taliban Rules Afghanistan Again With U.S. Firepower

From CBS News · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Five years after U.S. and allied forces withdrew from Afghanistan, Taliban fighters continue to patrol Kabul with American-supplied vehicles, weapons and tactical equipment.
  • Pentagon figures say about $7 billion in military hardware fell into Taliban hands after the Afghan National Army collapsed in 2021.
  • President Donald Trump has demanded that the Taliban return the equipment, but a Taliban spokesman said it belongs to the Afghan state.

Five years after the United States ended its longest war, Kabul’s streets still display the hardware left behind by the withdrawal. Taliban fighters patrol in armored vehicles once supplied to Afghan forces, wearing American tactical gear and carrying American weapons.

CBS News returned to Afghanistan as Americans mark 25 years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The war triggered by those attacks ended five years ago with the Taliban’s dramatic return to power. When the last U.S. and allied soldiers left after two decades of war, the Taliban seized billions of dollars in American-purchased military equipment.

totally botching

· Donald TrumpTrump used the phrase to criticize the Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal.

One Humvee seen by CBS News in Kabul still carried a faded Green Bay Packers decal, a trace of its former operators. The Taliban has not hidden the arsenal. Its forces have displayed the American-funded equipment in military parades, including parades through Kabul.

the state of Afghanistan, and we are not in the business of doing transactions and deals on the assets of the state of Afghanistan.

· Abdul Qahar BalkhiThe Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman rejected Trump’s demand to return the military equipment.

Pentagon figures released last year put the value of the hardware and weapons captured by the Taliban at about $7 billion. Soon after the 2021 withdrawal, CBS News filmed the Badri 313 Taliban special forces unit patrolling in American vehicles, wearing American commando gear and carrying American weapons.

Trump, whose first administration negotiated the agreement that ended the war with the Taliban, has accused the Biden administration of “totally botching” the withdrawal. He has demanded that the Taliban return the equipment. Asked about that demand, Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said the hardware belongs to “the state of Afghanistan” and that the Taliban is not in the business of making deals over state assets. When told that American taxpayers had paid for the equipment, Balkhi replied: “The Americans did a lot of”

The Americans did a lot of

· Abdul Qahar BalkhiBalkhi began responding after being told that American taxpayers had purchased the equipment, but the supplied text ends mid-sentence.
About this summary

Originally published by CBS News in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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