After 20 years of war, you would think there would be nothing new to report from Afghanistan but Pentagon Officials have released the total value of Military equipment behind in Afghanistan. The US completed the withdrawal back in August 2021. The issue with this is the country has changed regimes again since the mass evac of US forces. The Taliban has taken over and claimed the equipment left behind.
The US has spent over $18.6 billion supplying in Afghan National Defense and Security Forces. The US did manage to reclaim some of the equipment but $7.2 Billion was left behind. This includes aircraft, the surface to ground weapons, military vehicles, weapons, and radios. The amount and type of equipment left behind have drawn negative reactions from both sides of the aisle.
To lessen the blow of the report the claims:
“Much of the remaining equipment” left in Afghanistan requires “specialized maintenance that DoD contractors previously provided” to Afghan forces “in the form of technical knowledge and support,”
The Department of Defense was required to report its losses to Congress. Army Major Rob Lodewick stated: “Nearly all equipment used by U.S. military forces in Afghanistan was either retrograded or destroyed prior to our withdrawal and is not part of the ‘$7.12 billion’ figure cited in the report.”