Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has lamented that gear left behind in Afghanistan has strengthened the Pakistani Taliban
A lot of the American weaponry deserted throughout Washington’s chaotic 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan has fallen into the fingers of Islamist fighters, together with the Pakistani Taliban, Pakistan’s prime minister has warned.
The US weapons have boosted the firepower of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), “rising as a brand new problem” for Islamabad, Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar advised reporters on Monday. American navy gear has enhanced the capabilities of TTP fighters, contributing to more and more fierce assaults on Pakistan’s safety forces in latest months, he mentioned.
The TTP is allied with the Afghan Taliban, which seized Kabul and returned to energy as US forces had been evacuating from the war-torn nation in August 2021. Kakar didn’t present particulars on how the deserted US weapons had wound up within the fingers of Pakistani militants.
Greater than $7 billion value of US navy gear was left behind in Afghanistan, in keeping with a Pentagon evaluation launched final 12 months. The gear, which had been given to the US-backed authorities in Kabul throughout Washington’s 20-year occupation of the nation, included plane, navy automobiles, communications gear and firearms. Authorities forces surrendered or misplaced their US-supplied weapons as they had been overrun and routed by the Taliban.
Critics of US President Joe Biden’s administration have pegged the worth of deserted gear a lot greater. For instance, former President Donald Trump claimed that US forces had left $85 billion value of weaponry and gear to the Taliban. US troops additionally jettisoned a few of their very own gear, akin to helicopters and Humvees, however the Pentagon mentioned a lot of that gear was destroyed or “retrograded.”
Kakar referred to as for a “coordinated strategy” to coping with the leftover weapons. US gear, akin to weapons with laser sighting programs, have reportedly enabled TTP fighters to focus on Pakistani safety forces from larger distances. These authorities forces are charged with defending “our residence, kids, mosques and locations of worship,” the prime minister mentioned.
Kakar was put in as Pakistan’s caretaker PM final month, bridging the management hole till the nation’s subsequent parliamentary elections are held, presumably early subsequent 12 months.
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