A report from the New York Times indicates that gun dealers in Afghanistan are selling U.S. pistols, rifles, and other weapons in their stores.
According to the Times, the items being sold also include equipment like “binoculars and night-vision goggles.”
The weapons and equipment were “originally provided to the Afghan security forces under a U.S. training and assistance program that cost American taxpayers more than $83 billion through two decades of war.” The Taliban actively sought out the U.S. weapons and equipment, for war-fighting, only to sell it “to Afghan entrepreneurs because Taliban demand has eased with the end of combat.”
Pistols, hand grenades, and ammunition are seen kept on display for sale at a shop in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province on September 4, 2021. (Javed Tanveer/AFP via Getty Images)
An Afghan vendor displays guns for sale as he waits for customers in his shop at a market in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province on September 4, 2021. (Javed Tanveer/AFP via Getty Images)
An Afghan vendor holds pistols to display for sale while waiting for customers in his shop at a market in the Panjwai district of Kandahar province on September 4, 2021. (Javed Tanveer/AFP via Getty Images)
On Monday, Defense Department spokesman Maj. Rob Lodewick said, “Since 2005, the U.S. military has provided the Afghan national defense and security forces with many thousands of small arms.”
He noted that it is without a doubt that “large numbers of these weapons are probably now in Taliban hands.”
Taliban fighters stand guard near the venue of an open-air rally in a field on the outskirts of Kabul on October 3, 2021, as the Taliban supporters and senior figures held their first mass rally in a show of strength as they consolidate their rule of Afghanistan. (Hoshang Hashimi/AFP via Getty Images)
Breitbart News pointed to the UK Independent’s August 20, 2021, report showing, “The US spent about $83 billion over the last two decades on training and equipping the Afghan military. The sum included more than 75,000 vehicles, nearly 600,000 weapons and more than 200 aircraft.”
The paper also pointed out that President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan admitted that the administration did not have a “complete picture” on how much arms and equipment were left behind during the U.S. withdrawal, however, he noted, “a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban.”
A Taliban fighter stands guard in a vehicle near the venue of an open-air rally in a field on the outskirts of Kabul on October 3, 2021. (Hoshang Hashimi/AFP via Getty Images)
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a TPUSA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.