The Taliban held a military parade in Kabul, Afghanistan, over the weekend, displaying the American-made and Russian-made technology that was left behind.
Defense Ministry spokesman Enayatullah Khwarazmi said Sunday’s parade was also held to celebrate the graduation of 250 newly trained soldiers, according to Reuters.
NO ‘DEFENSIVE SYSTEMS ARE CAPABLE OF DEALING WITH’ CHINA’S HYPERSONIC MISSILE, MILLEY SAYS
The display included dozens of U.S.-made M1117 armored security vehicles driving slowly up and down a major road in Kabul, and Mi-17 helicopters were overhead. Many of the soldiers involved carried American weapons, including the M4 assault rifle.
The U.S. military provided money, weapons, and training to the Afghan government forces for years, but the Afghan forces crumbled this August when the Taliban were able to overtake the country and dismantle the previous regime.
The U.S.-backed Afghan military had possessed more than 150 aircraft before the Taliban took over, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, which detailed this in a recent quarterly report.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
It detailed the inventory of the Afghan air force, which included 23 usable A-29 “Super Tucano” turboprop ground-attack aircraft, three usable C-130 transport aircraft, 33 usable UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, and 43 smaller MD 530 choppers, among others.
U.S. military personnel removed or destroyed some of the technology and equipment ahead of the departure at the end of August. They left 70 MRAPs and 27 Humvees, both of which are military vehicles, and 73 aircraft inoperable, Gen. Frank McKenzie told reporters at the time.
The United States left the C-RAM defense system, which prevented at least one terror attempt, in place until the very end.
