Pakistan PM: US arms left behind in Afghanistan are in militant hands

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister has said that US military equipment left behind during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan has fallen into militant hands and ultimately made its way to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan.

The equipment — which includes a wide variety of items, from night vision goggles to firearms — is now “emerging as a new challenge” for Islamabad as it has enhanced the fighting capabilities of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar said on Monday.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, have over the past months intensified attacks on Pakistan's security forces. They are a separate terrorist group but an ally of the Taliban.

The Taliban overran Afghanistan in mid-August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the last weeks of their chaotic pullout from the country after 20 years of war. In the face of the Taliban sweep, the US-backed and trained Afghan military crumbled.

There is no definite information on how much US equipment was left behind — but the Taliban seized US-supplied firepower, recovering guns, ammunition, helicopters and other modern military equipment from Afghan forces who surrendered it. Though no one knows the exact value, US defence officials have confirmed it is significant.

Speaking to a select group of journalists at his office in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, Kakar did not provide any evidence to support his allegation or directly link the Taliban and the TTP. He said there was a need to adopt a “coordinated approach” to tackling the challenge of the leftover equipment.

Given from Taliban

Kakar also did not criticise the Taliban — Islamabad has tried to reach out and act as an interlocutor between the international community and the new rulers in Kabul, who have been ostracised for the harsh edicts they imposed since their takeover.

However, two security officials in Islamabad told The Associated Press that the TTP either bought the equipment from the Taliban, or was given it as an ally. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the subject.

The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan have also released statements and video clips in recent months, claiming they possess, for example, guns with laser and thermal sighting systems.

TTP militants now target Pakistani troops from a distance, while before their only weapons were AK-47 assault rifles, one of the officials said, without elaborating.

Still, Pakistani security forces will continue to fight militants "to defend our home, children, mosques and places of worship,” Kakar said.

Strained relations

Kakar, 52, was sworn in last month as Pakistan's youngest prime minister to head a caretaker government. His Cabinet will run day-to-day affairs until the next parliamentary elections. The vote, which was to be held in October or November, is likely to be delayed until at least January 2024 as Pakistan's elections oversight body says it needs time to redraw constituencies to reflect the latest census results.

Kakar ruled out any talks between the government and the TTP since the militants unilaterally broke off a ceasefire last November.

Since the Taliban takeover next door, Islamabad says TTP fighters have increasingly been given shelter by the Taliban, straining relations between Islamabad and Kabul.

Pakistan became a key ally of Washington in its war against terror after the 9/11 attacks in the United States. This majority Muslim country is currently facing one of the worst economic crises even as its political turmoil deepens.

At his news conference, Kakar also stressed that all political parties — including the Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf opposition party of now imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan — would be allowed to participate in the upcoming elections.

“We are here just to assist electoral process,” Kakar said.