U.S. military left over $7 billion of military equipment to Taliban, IG report confirms
The inventory left behind in Afghanistan included more than $4 billion worth of armored vehicles
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The U.S. government left behind more than $7 billion in military equipment when it pulled out of Afghanistan during a chaotic and deadly withdrawal last year, an inspector general confirmed Tuesday.
A Defense Department inspector general report explained that the majority of the $7 billion left behind in equipment in the country consisted of tactical ground vehicles such as Humvees and mine-resistant MRAPS.
The Afghan military possessed a ground vehicle inventory worth about $4.12 billion when Kabul fell to the Taliban in mid-August 2021.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In addition to the ground vehicles, the U.S. military lost $923.3 million worth of military aircraft and $294.6 million in aircraft munitions.
Taliban holds a military parade with equipment captured from the U.S. Army in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Nov. 8, 2021. (Murteza Khaliqi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
However, the report does point out that "some" of the aircraft were "demilitarized and rendered inoperable during the evacuation."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The inspector general report said that 316,260 small arms, including sniper rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers, were left behind, amounting to $511.8 million.
Taliban holds a military parade with equipment captured from the U.S. Army in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on Nov. 8, 2021. (Murteza Khaliqi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the months following the withdrawal from Afghanistan, Taliban fighters have paraded through the streets on multiple occasions showing off military equipment seized from the U.S.
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"It is unconscionable that high-tech military equipment paid for by U.S. taxpayers has fallen into the hands of the Taliban and their terrorist allies," Republican lawmakers said in a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin last year. "Securing U.S. assets should have been among the top priorities for the U.S. Department of Defense prior to announcing the withdrawal from Afghanistan."