US weapons left in Afghanistan being used by militants in Pakistan — police

Peshawar, Nov. 17 (PTI): Modern weapons left by the United States in Afghanistan after its withdrawal last year are being used by militants against security forces in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a top police official claimed on Thursday.

The US completed the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, nearly 20 years after it had invaded the country in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Addressing a press conference here, Inspector General of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province Moazzam Jah Ansari said that modern weapons left by the US after their departure from Afghanistan in 2021 are being used for terror activities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Samaa TV reported.

“These militants picked up the sophisticated weaponry left by the Americans and waged a war against the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police,” Ansari was quoted as saying.

His comment comes amid an uptick in the attacks against security forces by armed assailants.

Approximately USD 7 billion of military equipment the US transferred to the Afghan government over the course of 16 years was left behind in Afghanistan after the US completed its withdrawal from the country in August, CNN reported in April this year, quoting a congressionally mandated report from the US Department of Defense.

According to the report, the Inspector General said that when the Afghan Taliban took over Afghanistan, many militants in Afghanistan jails were set free.

Ansari vowed to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the province bordering war-torn Afghanistan.

At least six policemen were killed in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province yesterday after militants opened fire at a police van.