{"id":136832,"date":"2021-08-26T08:11:20","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T08:11:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=136832"},"modified":"2021-08-26T08:11:20","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T08:11:20","slug":"taliban-takes-us-blackhawk-helicopter-for-joyride-after-seizing-200000-firearms-20000-humvees-given-to-afghan-army","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/taliban-takes-us-blackhawk-helicopter-for-joyride-after-seizing-200000-firearms-20000-humvees-given-to-afghan-army\/","title":{"rendered":"Taliban takes US Blackhawk helicopter for joyride after seizing 200,000 firearms & 20,000 Humvees given to Afghan army"},"content":{"rendered":"
SHAMELESS Taliban insurgents took a US Black Hawk chopper for a joyride after capturing 200,000 firearms and 20,000 Humvees that were given to Afghan defence troops.<\/strong><\/p>\n It's reported that the militants have made off with up to \u00a313bn worth of abandoned weapons and vehicles.<\/p>\n US intelligence officials fear that there are around 150 helicopters and planes for Taliban insurgents to use, including 45 UH-60 Black Hawk choppers.<\/p>\n Social media footage appears to show militants taking a Black Hawk helicopter for a joy ride near Kandahar, MailOnline reports.<\/p>\n The chopper taxied on the tarmac but it didn't leave the air. <\/p>\n It remains unknown if the militants have been trained to fly the helicopter.<\/p>\n Seven Black Hawk choppers, which cost around $21million each, arrived in Afghanistan last month. <\/p>\n More than 200,000 firearms were donated to the Afghan army, including M24 snipers and assault weapons, according to a Department of Defense report.<\/p>\n The US has also funded more than 20,000 humvees and 40,000 light tactical vehicles, including Ford pickup trucks, to Afghan defence forces.<\/p>\n The Taliban's distinctive white flags are often seen flying from the four-wheel-drive military trucks.<\/p>\n Afghan troops were also given around 1,000 wrecker trucks including hundreds of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles. <\/p>\n It comes after pictures released by the propaganda arm of the Taliban showed their fighters armed with American guns and riding in US armoured vehicles.<\/p>\n Fighters from the Badri 313 special forces unit appear to treat their stolen US equipment as trophies having seized them from the retreating Afghan army as they stormed towards Kabul.<\/p>\n Militants painted the slogan "Victorious Force" on the side of a US-made M1117 armoured transport – thought to be worth around $800,000. <\/p>\n Taliban fighters donned US-style military uniforms complete with helmets that appear to feature night vision goggles. <\/p>\n Insurgents appeared to cradle US-made M4A1 carbines, thought to be worth around $700 each, in their arms. <\/p>\n The new "Victory Force" unit is the latest brazen taunt to the US whose muddled withdrawal from Afghanistan has been credited with handing power back to the Taliban.<\/p>\n The consequence of the rapid pullout led to the collapse of the Afghan army and handed billions of pounds worth of equipment to the Taliban as they raided weapons caches.<\/p>\n Taliban fighters are now regularly seen cradling military-grade US assault weapons. <\/p>\n Everything that hasn't been destroyed is the Taliban's now<\/p>\n The US has spent an estimated \u00a313billion arming and equipping the Afghan army since 2005 – and officials have admitted that anything which was left behind and not destroyed is now in the hands of the Taliban.<\/p>\n Many of these weapons were simply abandoned or even handed over as the Afghan forces collapsed – sometimes with a fight – against the advance of the Taliban. <\/p>\n US commanders removed planes, heavy armour, and high-tech equipment – but unknown numbers of other gear which had been given to the Afghan army was left behind.<\/p>\n "Everything that hasn't been destroyed is the Taliban's now," one U.S. official told Reuters. <\/p>\n And it is feared some of the weapons could fall into the hands of splinter terrorist groups – such as ISIS – or even Russia and China.<\/p>\n Getting an exact accounting of all the weapons in Afghanistan after almost 20 years of constant war is very difficult – but according to a 2017 official US report there could be as much as:<\/p>\n Elias Yousif, deputy director of the Center for International Policy\u2019s Security Assistance Monitor, told The Hill: "When an armed group gets their hands on American-made weaponry, it's sort of a status symbol. It's a psychological win.<\/p>\n "Clearly, this is an indictment of the U.S. security cooperation enterprise broadly.<\/p>\n "It really should raise a lot of concerns about what is the wider enterprise that is going on every single day, whether that's in the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asia."<\/p>\n Taliban forces have banned Afghans from Kabul airport after refusing to extend the withdrawal deadline for Western forces as they continue to desperate evacuation. <\/p>\n Thousands of people are attempting to flee Afghanistan as they attempt to flee the Taliban's ruthless rule – with fears of mass executions, torture, reprisals, and oppression.<\/p>\n Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said no evacuation flights from\u00a0Afghanistan\u00a0will be allowed after August 31 – and\u00a0warned any delay would shatter the uneasy truce\u00a0at the airport and risk slipping back into war.<\/p>\n Terror chiefs have previously warned "there will be consequences" if the Western forces cross the "red line" and don't leave on time.<\/p>\n And Mujahid confirmed at a press conference today: "August 31 is the time given and after that it's something that is against the agreement.<\/p>\n "All people should be removed prior to that date. After that we do not allow them, it will not be allowed in our country, we will take a different stance."<\/p>\n He said Afghan nationals will no longer be allowed to go to Kabul airport and warned the terror group are\u00a0"not in favour" of letting Afghans leave the country.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, it was reported CIA Director\u00a0William Burns met Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar\u00a0in Kabul on Monday, two US sources told Reuters.<\/p>\n Countries have evacuated nearly 60,000 people over the past 10 days and troops are desperately trying to meet the deadline agreed with the Taliban for the withdrawal of foreign forces.<\/p>\n The White House has reiterated that the rescue operation will not be extended beyond the end of the month. <\/p>\n The UK's Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the\u00a0evacuation effort\u00a0is "down to hours now, not weeks" as he conceded the UK's involvement will end when the US leaves.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
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