In the year 2021, America left weapons worth more than $7 billion in Afghanistan.Image Credit source: Getty Images

In the year 2021, the Taliban occupied Afghanistan. Amidst the chaos here, the US Army had to leave Afghanistan. After this decision, the US Army had to leave its weapons and war equipment there. Pakistan took advantage of this mistake of the US Army. The weapons of the American soldier were captured by Taliban terrorists and through them they reached Pakistan. Now those weapons are being used against India.

Many reports have claimed that the US had abandoned weapons worth more than $7 billion. Know which weapons the US Army left behind in Afghanistan and why it had to do so?

From heavy weapons to snipers, everything was left behind in Afghanistan

After taking a hasty decision, the number of weapons left by America in Afghanistan worth more than 7 billion was more than 3.16 lakhs. This included 26 thousand heavy weapons. Apart from this, many weapons including M24 sniper, M4 carbine, M-16A4 rifle, M249 machine gun, AMD rifle, M4A1 carbine and M16 A2/A4 assault rifle were included.

The report claimed that the US Army had left behind 15,37,000 live cartridges in Afghanistan, which were said to be worth $48 million. Apart from this, 42000 night vision surveillance, biometric and positioning equipment were also among the things that the US Army could not take away.

The Taliban used these weapons in different ways. These weapons have been sold. They have been used in terrorist incidents. The Taliban sold an M4 carbine of the US Army for $2400 and an AK-47 for $130. Night vision cameras were sold for $500 to $1000.

Why did the US Army not take away the weapons?

Now let us understand the reasons why the US Army had to leave its weapons and equipment in Afghanistan. It was difficult for the US Army to carry such a large quantity of weapons and war equipment. Since these items were heavy, the army did not have the means to carry them. The real reason for not being able to arrange for this was lack of time.

The plan was to destroy them on departure, but this did not happen. In some cases, destroying the equipment on site was considered impractical and dangerous. However, some equipment was deliberately destroyed or disabled.

The time frame for withdrawal was a major hurdle. It was necessary to evacuate both military personnel and Afghan allies as soon as possible. This was the reason why it became difficult to take away all the weapons.

A large portion of the weapons were also left for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. The hope was that these forces would use the equipment to maintain the country's security, but this did not happen. Due to the rapid collapse of the security forces, most of the weapons ended up in the hands of the Taliban.

Apart from this, another reason for leaving the weapons was that some equipment and weapons had become old and outdated. Their existence had lost its meaning. America did not want to waste money on their transportation. However, a big debate had started on this topic which was being discussed all over the world along with America.

Also read: Horoscope of IAS Pooja's fraud, mother's domination and father's exploits