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US left behind $7 billion of military gear after troops withdrew: Pentagon

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A new Pentagon report has revealed that the US left $7 billion of military gear – including 78 aircraft, 12,000 Humvees and thousands of air-to-ground weapons – in Afghanistan after President Joe Biden’s chaotic 2021 withdrawal.

The US handed the equipment to the previous Afghan government over the course of 16 years, CNN reported.

According to the report, seen by CNN, the US Defense Department has no plans to return to Afghanistan to “retrieve or destroy” the equipment.

The US gave a total of $18.6 billion of equipment to the former Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) from 2005 to August 2021, according to the report. Of that total, equipment worth $7.12 billion remained in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal was completed on August 30, 2021.

It included aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, communications equipment and other materials, according to the DoD report.

Quoting the report, which was submitted to Congress, CNN stated: “Much of the remaining equipment” left in Afghanistan requires “specialized maintenance that DoD contractors previously provided” to Afghan forces “in the form of technical knowledge and support.”

The Department of Defense was required to submit a report to Congress “regarding the disposition of United States property, equipment and supplies provided to” Afghan forces that “were destroyed, taken out of” or “remain in Afghanistan.”

The report also says that five Mi-17 helicopters that had been in Afghanistan were officially transferred to Ukraine in 2022, though they were already in Ukraine for maintenance before the US left Afghanistan. The Department of Defense notified Congress of its intent to transfer the helicopters in January 2022, before Russia’s invasion of the country had begun, and Ukraine signed a letter of acceptance on March 11, 2022.

“These five helicopters were in Ukraine undergoing overhaul maintenance when the Afghan government collapsed, and have remained there since,” the report states.

Other materials previously procured for Afghanistan by the US but not sent to the country, has been given to Ukraine, including about 37,000 122mm howitzer rounds, the report states.

The US has also transferred ammunition, grenade cartridges, and thousands of high-explosive mortar rounds to Ukraine from material that was previously procured for Afghanistan, the report states.

According to the report, aircraft worth $923.3 million remained in Afghanistan after withdrawal.

The US left 78 aircraft procured for the government of Afghanistan at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul before the end of the withdrawal. These aircraft were demilitarized and rendered inoperable before the US military left, the report states.

A total of 9,524 air-to-ground munitions, valued at $6.54 million, remained in Afghanistan at the conclusion of the US military withdrawal.

Over 40,000 of the total 96,000 military vehicles the US gave to Afghan forces remained in Afghanistan at the time of the US withdrawal, including 12,000 military Humvees, the report states.

“The operational condition of the remaining vehicles” in Afghanistan is “unknown,” the report states.

More than 300,000 of the total 427,300 weapons the US gave to Afghan forces remained in Afghanistan and “nearly all” of the communications equipment that the US gave to Afghan forces, including base-station, mobile, man-portable and hand-held commercial and military radio systems, and associated transmitters and encryption devices also remained in Afghanistan at the time of the withdrawal, the report states.

“Nearly all” night vision, surveillance, “biometric and positioning equipment” totaling nearly 42,000 pieces of specialized equipment remained in the country, and “nearly all,” of the explosive ordinance disposal and demining equipment, including 17,500 “pieces of explosive detection, electronic countermeasure, disposal and personal protective equipment” also remained in Afghanistan, according to the report.

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Muttaqi presents proposals to China International Development Cooperation Agency

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Amir Khan Muttaqi, Acting Foreign Minister of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has met with Chen Xiaodong, Director of China’s International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), to discuss bilateral cooperation and China’s ongoing development projects in Afghanistan.

During the meeting, Muttaqi expressed gratitude to the Chinese agency for its role in Afghanistan’s economic reconstruction, stating that after ensuring security, IEA’s top priority is the country’s economic rebuilding.

Muttaqi also voiced hope for closer collaboration between Afghanistan and China in the fields of agriculture, energy, and long-term infrastructure development.

He presented practical proposals to the Chinese side, suggesting areas that could be prioritized in Afghanistan’s reconstruction process.

In response, Chen reaffirmed CIDCA’s commitment to working with Afghanistan in sectors such as healthcare, energy, agriculture, and capacity-building.

He also pledged support for infrastructure development, livestock improvement, and feasibility studies in the oil and gas sectors.

 

 

 

 

 

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Czech president pardons soldiers prosecuted in death of Afghan prisoner

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Czech President Petr Pavel granted pardons on Wednesday to four members of the country’s special forces, who had been facing prosecution for alleged crimes related to the death of a detained Afghan soldier.

The four members of the 601st special operations forces group were to stand trial on charges of extortion, insubordination, violation of guard duty obligations and failure to provide aid, Reuters reported.

Czech media had reported that the accusations related to the death of 19-year-old Wahidullah Khan after he was detained over an attack on troops at the Shindand base in western Afghanistan in 2018.

One Czech soldier was killed in the attack and two others were injured.

“After carefully assessing all the circumstances of this case, the President of the Republic took into account in particular the exceptional nature of the war situation in which the incident under investigation occurred,” Pavel’s office said.

It added that the fact the soldiers were not primarily accused of violent crimes had also been taken into consideration.

The New York Times first reported the incident in 2018. It reported that Khan was beaten after being taken into custody by U.S. and Czech troops, was unconscious when he was returned to Afghan forces the same day and died shortly afterwards.

U.S. and Czech troops were being investigated over the incident, it reported at the time.

The Czech army operated in Afghanistan from 2002 until 2021.

 

 

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Islamic Emirate condemns school bus attack in Pakistan

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The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) has strongly condemned a deadly attack on a school bus in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, calling the violence against children and civilians “unjustifiable.”

In a statement shared on X, Islamic Emirate spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid expressed sympathy for the victims and rejected allegations that the attackers had links to Afghanistan.

“Pakistani authorities should not make baseless accusations against Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate does not permit anyone to use Afghan soil to launch attacks on other countries,” he stated, emphasizing that there is no evidence to support such allegations.

The attack on army bus school, which took place in the Khuzdar district of Balochistan, claimed the lives of five people, including three children.

Pakistan’s military and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif swiftly condemned the violence and accused “Indian terror proxies” of involvement, although they did not share any evidence linking the attack to New Delhi.

India rejected Pakistan’s accusations.

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