Leaving Afghanistan, United States Leaves Military Equipment Worth IDR 102 Trillion: Now In Taliban Control

Illustration of the US military at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. (Wikimedia Commons/MSgt Benjamin Bloker)

JAKARTA - The United States abandoned $7 billion worth of military equipment transferred over 16 years when it left Afghanistan, according to a congressional mandate report from the U.S. Department of Defense seen by CNN.

This equipment is now in a country controlled by the enemy the US has been trying to drive out of the past two decades: the Taliban. The report to Congress said the Department of Defense had no plans to return to Afghanistan to "retrieve or destroy" the equipment.

The US provided a total of 18.6 billion US dollars or approximately Rp.268.718.85 billion in equipment to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) from 2005 to August 2021, according to the report.

Of that total, US$7.12 billion worth of equipment remains in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal is completed on August 30, 2021. It includes aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, communications equipment and other materials, according to a US Department of Defense or Pentagon report.

The sheer value of the lagging hardware will serve to refocus attention, on the chaotic and hasty withdrawal of Afghanistan, which has been heavily criticized by lawmakers on both sides.

"Most of the equipment remaining in Afghanistan requires specialized maintenance that was previously provided by DoD contractors (Pentagon) to Afghan forces in the form of knowledge and technical support," the report said, quoted by CNN April 28.

The Department of Defense is required to submit a report to Congress "regarding the disposition of United States property, equipment and supplies provided to" Afghan forces that were "destroyed, removed" or "remained in Afghanistan," said the report, which is dated March 2022.

In addition, aircraft worth 923.3 million US dollars or around Rp. 13,339,145,925,000 remain in Afghanistan. The US left 78 planes purchased for the Afghan government at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul before the recall ended. These planes were demilitarized and rendered inoperable before the US military left, the report said.

A total of 9,524 air-to-ground munitions, worth US$6.54 million, remained in Afghanistan at the end of the US military withdrawal. A "significant majority" of the "remaining stock of aircraft ammunition is non-precision munitions," the report said.

That said, more than 40,000 of the total 96,000 military vehicles the US provided to Afghan forces remained in Afghanistan at the time of the US withdrawal, including 12,000 military Humvees, the report said. "The operational condition of the remaining vehicles" in Afghanistan is "unknown," the report said.

There were also more than 300,000 of the total 427,300 weapons the US provided Afghan forces remained in Afghanistan at the time of the US military withdrawal, according to the report. Fewer than 1,537,000 "special munitions" and "ordinary small arms munitions," worth a total of $48 million, are still in the country, the report said.

"Almost all communications equipment that the US provided to Afghan forces, including commercial and military base station radio systems, mobile, portable, and handheld, as well as transmitters and associated encryption devices also remained in Afghanistan at the time of withdrawal."

"Almost all night vision, surveillance, "biometric and positioning equipment" with a total of nearly 42,000 specialized equipment remains in the country," the report added.

"And nearly all of the explosive devices and mines, including 17,500 pieces of explosive detection, electronic countermeasures, disposal and personal protective equipment also remain in Afghanistan," the report said.

The report also said the five Mi-17 helicopters that had been in Afghanistan were officially transferred to Ukraine in 2022, although they were already in Ukraine for maintenance before the US left Afghanistan.

The Department of Defense notified Congress of its intention to transfer the helicopters by January 2022, before the Russian invasion of the country began, with Ukraine signing a letter of acceptance on March 11, 2022.

"These five helicopters were in Ukraine undergoing repair maintenance when the Afghan government collapsed, and have remained there ever since," the report said.