A clearer picture of what the Taliban were able to seize after the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan has emerged. The tax-payer gear the Taliban now has at its disposal is a mix of what the U.S. military gave the previous Afghan government and what they left behind.
According to data from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) the Taliban is now the most armed militant group today. Not only do they now possess large caches of firearms, including rifles and machine guns, but they now have combat aircraft and armored vehicles.
One such aircraft is the A-29 Super Tucano. Each light attack plane costs $22.25 million and there were 23 usable A-29s in the Afghan air force, which now is in the hands of the Taliban. Other aircraft in the hands of the Taliban include three C-130 transport planes, which each cost around $14 million, and 33 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters, which go for around $6 million a pop.
When it comes to land vehicles, the Taliban now have around 170 M1151 HMMWV, also known as Humvees, totaling around $41.5 million. The captured ammunition that is to be used for weapon platforms for the vehicles include:
- 99,696 70mm rockets totaling $18.4 million
- 60,840 40mm grenades totaling $4.56 million
884,880 rounds .50 caliber rounds totaling $2.7 million
2.01 million 7.62mm rounds totaling $1.51 million
$3.6 million worth in uniforms
Taliban has an estimated $212 million worth of U.S. military aircraft, vehicles, ammunition, and spare parts.
— Frud Bezhan ???? ???? (@FrudBezhan) August 23, 2021
Makes Taliban arguably the best armed militant group in modern history. #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/64aiMBwpeD
The true scope of what the Taliban have will not be known until later but what we already know now is truly shocking given there were plenty of intelligence reports stating the Taliban had the means to take over Afghanistan.
