Afghanistan Times
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KABUL – Pakistan claims that it has discovered the use of U.S. weapons, including M4 Carbines, AK-47s, and explosives in recent terrorist attacks on its soil.
In a recent anti-terrorism operation in North Waziristan, Pakistani security forces say they killed five terrorists including a notorious Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan commander and captured a cache of American weapons; highlighting the trend of cross-border weapon flow to terrorists operating in Pakistan.
Alleged investigations reveal a significant portion of the TTP’s arsenal comprises arms supplied by the United States to the now-defunct Afghan National Army. These weapons were later surrendered to the Afghan Taliban and Islamabad has been claiming a chunk of those modern weaponry has landed in TTP hands.
Terrorist attacks in Pakistan in 2023, including on Zhob Garrison, Chitral, and the Mianwali Air Base, saw the deployment of advanced American weaponry by TTP militants. The trend continued in December 2023, with terrorists using night vision goggles and American rifles in an attack in Dera Ismail Khan, further emphasizing the challenge of controlling the proliferation of foreign arms.
On December 13, customs and security forces intercepted a vehicle at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, revealing a large quantity of sophisticated American weapons being smuggled into Pakistan. This incident, along with previous attacks, raises significant concerns about the Afghan transitional government’s ability to prevent the misuse of American weapons on Pakistani territory.
The Pentagon’s admission that around 300,000 weapons are unaccounted for from the total supplied during the chaotic withdrawal in 2021 further adds to the concern.
The substantial increase in terrorism in the region over the past two years suggests a concerning misuse of the $18.6 billion worth of equipment allocated by the US to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces between 2005 and August 2021. As investigations continue, the international community closely watches the implications of the cross-border flow of weapons and its impact on regional security.
