Fallout of US Troop exit: Taliban gains access to $85 billion of American military equipment, says US Congressman

(Image credit: AP)

The Taliban now has access to $85 billion worth of American military equipment and the bio-metric data of the Afghans who have assisted US and allies over the past 20 years. As the US troops exit Afghanistan, the Taliban now has its hands on at least 75,000 military vehicles, 200 airplanes and helicopters and 600,000 small arms. This information was shared by Republican Congressman Jim Banks.

Jim Banks, a former US Navy reservist, addressed the press in Washington and said that Taliban now has more Black Hawk helicopters than 85 percent of the countries in the world. Other equipment seized by the Taliban includes night-vision goggles, body armour and medical supplies, he said.

Claiming that the Taliban will now have access to biometric devices which have the fingerprints, eye scans and biographical information of all the Afghans who helped the US and allies in the last 20 years, he hinted that the Taliban could target them.

Banks then blamed the Biden administration for the hasty exit. “There is no plan by this administration to get those weapons back. There is no plan to account for any of this equipment or these weapons”, he said.

“If any of these weapons or this military equipment is used to harm, injure, or kill an American now or at any time in the future, the blood is on Joe Biden’s hands,” the Republican Congressman said.

Banks also blamed the Biden administration for the events outside Kabul airport, saying: “the responsibility for this tragedy rests squarely on the shoulders of Joe Biden. His incompetence means American blood has been shed. This was avoidable and is unforgivable.”

Social media posts indicate that the fears expressed by Banks are true. The Talibani propaganda channels and accounts have released short videos of its fighters in US military gear where a unit called the “Badri 313 Brigade” claimed to be guarding the presidential palace in Kabul.

Slow motion footage showed them wearing modern helmets, sun glasses, body armour and carrying similar rifles to the US military equipment given to the Afghan forces.

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