Pakistan said Thursday it had provided Taliban leaders in Afghanistan with “sufficient proof” to substantiate its claims that militants are using modern weapons left behind by the United States military for cross-border terrorism.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Shafqat Ali Khan stated at a weekly news conference in Islamabad that the presence of U.S. advanced weapons in the neighboring country “remains a source of concern,” and it has been communicated multiple times to the Taliban government in Kabul.
“The proofs are regularly provided,” Khan said when asked for his comments on whether Pakistan has shared any evidence with the Taliban.
“We have given sufficient proof, and this remains an important component of our engagement with the Taliban authorities to convey that the terrorists enjoy sanctuary [in Afghanistan] for attacks inside Pakistan,” the spokesperson asserted.
Khan said Islamabad has consistently urged the de facto Afghan leaders to ensure that the weapons “do not fall into the wrong hands.”
Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy Taliban spokesperson, vehemently dismissed allegations Thursday that the military hardware in question has been acquired by terrorist organizations and is being utilized in attacks against Pakistani territory.
“All weapons and military equipment are safely stored and maintained to prevent any potential misuse,” Taliban-run state television quoted Fitrat as claiming.
Pakistan has seen an increase in militant attacks since the Taliban regained control in Kabul, leading to the deaths of hundreds of civilians and security personnel. The violence is primarily attributed to Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, a globally designated terrorist organization that Islamabad claims is being sheltered and supported by the de facto Afghan rulers.
The TTP has been waging deadly attacks for more than 15 years, but regional experts note a marked increase in the precision and lethality of militant raids against Pakistani security forces over the past couple of years, inflicting heavy losses on them.
U.S.-led Western troops were stationed in Afghanistan to protect the internationally backed government in Kabul for nearly two decades. They hastily and chaotically withdrew in August 2021, just days after the then-insurgent Taliban regained control of the war-torn South Asian nation.
A U.S. Department of Defense report in 2022 found that about $7 billion worth of military hardware was left behind in Afghanistan after the military withdrawal was completed. The equipment, including aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, communications equipment and other materials was subsequently seized by the Taliban.
President Donald Trump pledged on the eve of his Jan. 20 inauguration to retrieve the U.S. military weapons from the Taliban, claiming former President Joe Biden’s administration “gave our military equipment, a big chunk of it, to the enemy.”
Trump stated that future financial assistance to Afghanistan would be contingent upon the return of U.S. military equipment.
“If we’re going to pay billions of dollars a year, tell them we’re not going to give them the money unless they give back our military equipment,” he said.
Taliban officials have not publicly responded to Trump’s assertions but privately claim they fought against and defeated American troops, acquiring the military equipment as “spoils of the war.”
The Kabul government, not recognized by any country, has repeatedly displayed U.S. military gear in their so-called victory day celebrations over the past three years.
