Issue Brief: What We Know about the U.S. Arms Left Behind in Afghanistan
Security Assistance Monitor, September 2021
As the U.S. government comes to terms with what it means to lose a significant portion of the billions of dollars in arms, equipment, and other materiel the United States delivered to Afghanistan for U.S. and Afghan troops, a new SAM Issue Brief gives an overview of the arms left behind in Afghanistan and the risk they pose in Taliban hands.
The most complete public accounting of U.S. defense transfers to Afghan security forces has been captured in key reports from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) and Government Accountability Office (GAO). From those, and knowing that even before the Taliban acquired U.S. weapons, many had already become lost or damaged, we can begin to piece together the approximate size and makeup of the new weapons the Taliban has acquired.
Between 2003 and 2016, the U.S. government spent about $18 billion on equipment and transportation for Afghan security forces and funded the transfer of 884,311 pieces of equipment to Afghanistan. Although some of the largest pieces of equipment the Taliban has acquired, including aircraft, will be limited by their logistical, sustainment, and maintenance requirements, other equipment, including small arms, can be fielded easily and are likely to end up on the black market if Taliban fighters need to trade a portion of them for cash.
For SAM’s own accounting of what might be in the Taliban’s new arsenal and the pieces of most concern, check out SAM’s newest brief here.
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U.S. military equipment, including armored vehicles worth hundreds of thousands of dollars each, have reportedly been spotted in Iran, following the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
House Democrats broke ranks with the Biden administration, approving a defense bill that asks hard questions about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan while drastically increasing the Pentagon’s budget.
Gen. Mark A. Milley said on Wednesday that U.S. military cooperation with the Taliban to contain ISIS-K in Afghanistan is “possible,” but he and Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin are wary of expanding cooperation to a broader set of issues.
Breaking Defense reports that Saudi officials are using their recent security assistance deal with Russia to send a signal to Washington that they are willing to diversify their arms acquisition purchases.
A New York Times investigation found that the CIA used a “secretive and highly secure compound” in Afghanistan as a hub for covert evacuations in the weeks leading up to the August 31 withdrawal deadline. Hundreds were evacuated from the site before it was deliberately destroyed.
