Half a million weapons left behind in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal have since been lost, sold or smuggled to militant groups.
According to a former Afghan official, the Taliban seized around one million weapons when the group regained control of the country in 2021.
As the Taliban swept through Afghanistan in the same year, many Afghan soldiers either surrendered or fled, leaving behind their weapons and vehicles.
Some of the military equipment was also abandoned by departing US forces.
Half a million weapons left behind in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal have since been lost, sold or smuggled to militant groups
GETTY
The stockpile included American-made firearms such as M4 and M16 rifles, along with older weapons already in Afghan possession from previous decades of conflict.
Sources told the BBC that during a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council's Sanctions Committee in Doha late last year, the Taliban acknowledged that at least half of this military equipment is now "unaccounted" for.
A committee member confirmed that, according to additional sources, the whereabouts of roughly half a million pieces of equipment remain unknown.
In a February report, the UN said that al-Qaeda affiliates- including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, and Yemen's Ansarullah movement- had access to the weapons or were purchasing them on the black market.
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Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesman for the Taliban government, denied the allegations, saying: "All light and heavy weapons are securely stored. We strongly reject claims of smuggling or loss."
A UN report from 2023 stated that the Taliban allowed commanders to keep 20 per cent of the captured US weapons, and that the black market was booming as a result.
Although the commanders are affiliated with the terrorist group, they usually have some autonomy in their regions.
The UN said that the "gifting of weapons is widely practised between local commanders and fighters to consolidate power. The black market remains a rich source of weaponry for the Taliban".
A UN report from 2023 stated that the Taliban allowed commanders to keep 20 per cent of the captured US weapons
GETTY
A former journalist based in Kandahar told the BBC that an open arms market operated in the city for about a year following the Taliban takeover, but has since moved underground, now functioning primarily through WhatsApp.
On the platform, wealthy buyers and local commanders reportedly trade both new and used US-supplied weapons, most of them originally left behind by US-backed Afghan forces.
The number of weapons tracked by the US watchdog for Afghan reconstruction, known as Sigar, is lower than estimates provided by other sources.
However, in a 2022 report, Sigar admitted it had been unable to obtain reliable figures.
One reason cited was the fact that equipment had been funded and distributed by multiple US agencies over the years.
Sigar also noted that there had been "shortfalls and issues with DoD’s [Department of Defense] processes for tracking equipment in Afghanistan" for over a decade.
Regarding the State Department, it added: "State provided us limited, inaccurate, and untimely information about the equipment and funds it left behind."
The department denied this was the case.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to recover weapons left behind in Afghanistan
REUTERS
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to recover weapons left behind in Afghanistan, claiming that $85billion (£66billion) worth of advanced military equipment was abandoned there.
During his first cabinet meeting of the new administration, Trump said: "Afghanistan is one of the biggest sellers of military equipment in the world, you know why? They're selling the equipment that we left."
"I want to look into this. If we need to pay them, that's fine, but we want our military equipment back."
Trump’s estimate has been contested, as much of the money spent in Afghanistan also went toward training, salaries, and support, not solely weapons.
Additionally, Afghanistan did not appear among the top 25 exporters of major arms last year, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Responding to Trump’s claims, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Afghan state television: "We seized these weapons from the previous administration and will use them to defend the country and counter any threats."
The Taliban frequently showcases captured US weapons, often at Bagram Airfield, the former main US-Nato base, presenting them as symbols of both victory and legitimacy.
