The Taliban were the last US aircraft to celebrate flew out of Afghanistan shortly before the August 31 deadlineto drop the curtain on America’s longest war. Now that the Taliban have complete control of the country, how far will the insurgent group be able to use the military equipment left behind by the US?
General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., commander of US Central Command, allayed fears of illicit gun use by the Taliban, saying that military assets, including cars and airplanes, were demilitarized and would be of no use to the Taliban.
The Pentagon on Tuesday disclosed the details of the assets that U.S. forces left at the airport after their final departure.
According to General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., U.S. forces had to leave some military assets at the airport, including Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) missile defense systems that were used to protect the airport. These missile defense systems prevented a missile attack on Kabul airport on Monday morning.
About 70 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) tactical vehicles were also left behind at Kabul Airport. Up to 73 aircraft were parked on the ramps at Kabul Airport.
In addition, 27 highly mobile multi-purpose wheeled vehicles (Humvee) were parked at Karzai International Airport.
CAN YOU USE TALIBAN?
According to General McKenzie, equipment left at Kabul airport has been demilitarized so that no one can use it.
“It’s a complex process – it’s a complex and time consuming process to destroy these systems. So we demilitarized these systems so that they would never be used again to protect our armed forces other than bringing those systems back, “he told reporters.
Even the tactical vehicles have been demilitarized so that they will never be driven again. The US Department of Defense has not provided a breakdown of the 73 planes left at the airport, but said those planes will not fly again.
“These planes will never fly again when we’re gone. You will never be operated by anyone again. Most of them were not operational at first, but they will certainly never be flown again, ”added the general.
Major General Chris Donahue was the last American soldier to leave Afghanistan and board a C-17 aircraft on August 30th.
Read: This US soldier is the last American to leave Afghanistan
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