Afghanistan Times
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KABUL – The Taliban has warned that military equipment left behind by the United States in Afghanistan is now their rightful possession and will be used to defend against any efforts to reclaim it.
The statement, issued late Monday by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, marks the first official response from the group to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent pledge to retrieve the military hardware that fell into Taliban hands after the chaotic American withdrawal in August 2021.
“The weapons that America abandoned in Afghanistan, as well as those provided to the former Afghan regime, are now in the possession of the Mujahideen as spoils of war,” Mujahid said while speaking in an X space session. “The Afghan people now own these weapons and are utilizing them to defend their independence, sovereignty, and Islamic system. No external force can compel us to surrender these weapons, nor will we accept any demands for their surrender.”
The remarks come in response to Trump’s comments last month at a rally in Washington, where he criticized his successor, Joe Biden, for allowing American military equipment to fall into Taliban hands. Trump suggested that future financial assistance to Afghanistan should be contingent on the return of U.S. military hardware.
“If we’re going to pay billions of dollars a year, tell them we’re not going to give them the money unless they give back our military equipment,” Trump said, though he did not elaborate on how such a demand could be enforced.
A 2022 report by the U.S. Department of Defense estimated that around $7 billion worth of American military equipment was left behind in Afghanistan. The inventory included aircraft, military vehicles, small arms, communications equipment, and air-to-ground munitions. Much of this weaponry has since been incorporated into Taliban forces and has been displayed in their military parades, including celebrations marking the anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal.
Mujahid rejected Trump’s claims regarding financial aid, asserting that the Taliban government has received “not a single penny” from the United States since regaining power. He emphasized that the group has neither expected nor sought financial support from Washington.
The U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan was a consequence of the February 2020 Doha Agreement, which was negotiated under Trump’s administration with the then-insurgent Taliban. Biden’s administration followed through with the withdrawal, arguing that the alternative would have been renewed combat against the Taliban.
The Taliban’s assertion of ownership over the U.S. weapons left behind underscores the ongoing diplomatic and security tensions between Washington and Kabul’s de facto rulers. While the U.S. has repeatedly expressed concerns about the Taliban’s control over advanced weaponry, efforts to recover or disable the equipment remain unlikely.
