The US left $7 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan after its botched withdrawal, report says

• The US left $7 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan after it withdrew, CNN reported.
• The DOD made the disclosure in a report ordered by Congress and published in March, CNN said. 
• The Taliban surged to power in August as the US withdrew its forces after a 16-year stay.

The US left $7 billion worth of military equipment in Afghanistan following its withdrawal last year, CNN reported, citing a report released by the Pentagon that had been ordered by Congress.

Tens of thousands of US troops entered Afghanistan in 2005 and maintained a presence there until August 2021. As the US wound up its military operations, the Taliban surged to power, ultimately capturing Kabul.

But as the US departed Afghanistan, it left behind scores of weapons, planes, vehicles, and other equipment, with some of it demilitarized, the report said.

The Pentagon said in the report obtained by CNN that was published in March that, during the 16-year occupation, the US military passed a total of $18.6 billion in arms and equipment to the Afghan government, specifically the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, to help fight the Taliban.

However, following the withdrawal of all US troops in August, some $7 billion worth of equipment remained in the country, the Pentagon said in the report, per CNN.

Among the items left behind were aircraft worth $923 million, that were demilitarized and left inoperable.

Also left behind were $6.5 million in artillery and 300,000 weapons, the report said, according to CNN. 

It is not clear what condition the artillery and weapons were left in. The US military said in August 2021 that a lot of the equipment the US left behind was destroyed or demilitarized. 

The Pentagon said in the report it has no plan to “retrieve or destroy” the equipment, CNN said.

At the time of the Taliban resurgence, reports detailed how Taliban troops paraded captured US equipment after they stormed Kabul and used US-made equipment to solidify their grip on power. 

The Pentagon report added that before the US withdrew from Afghanistan it transferred five helicopters to Ukraine for maintenance, adding the helicopters “have remained there since,” according to CNN.