RASC News Agency: According to a report, the Taliban has established a market in Quetta and Peshawar, Pakistan, where they are selling M4 weapons for 450,000 PKR and American M21 weapons that were previously reserved for the special forces of the Ministry of National Defense of the former Afghanistan government, for 750,000 PKR.
This has raised concerns as leaders of the United States and senior military officials of the previous Afghanistan government have repeatedly denounced the transfer of inherited weapons from the US military and the former Afghanistan government to Pakistan by the Taliban during their two-year rule in Afghanistan. Such an act is considered a violation of Afghanistan’s public assets and a national crime.
This report briefly investigates the process of smuggling, selling, and transferring weapons and military equipment of the former Afghanistan government’s security forces during the Taliban’s two-year rule, which were taken out of the country. The report reveals that high-ranking Taliban officials in Peshawar’s Adamkhil valley and Quetta, Pakistan possess weapons stores and transfer weapons and military equipment from Afghanistan to several other Pakistani stores.
According to the report’s findings, the majority of shops in Adamkhil Valley and Quetta, Pakistan, are selling American weapons that were left behind in Afghanistan. These weapons are priced between 450,000 PKR and 750,000 PKR.
According to sources, the sellers of weapons and military equipment from the former government of Afghanistan in Pakistan are predominantly Afghanistanis and members of Taliban officials’ families. They have disclosed that American weapons, ammunition, night vision cameras, and armored suits, which were brought from Afghanistan, are being sold in this market.
Furthermore, these sellers have revealed that some of these weapons were brought by members of the Taliban group for sale. Others were purchased at a low price from soldiers of the former Afghanistan government in Afghanistan and then smuggled into Pakistan for sale. Additionally, some weapon sellers of the former Afghanistan government’s security forces have described this as a chain business, with weapons being transported to Pakistan from Afghanistan through challenging routes, and they have a high demand in the market.
These sellers have also claimed that after the Taliban group’s takeover of Afghanistan, the weapons markets in Adamkhil Valley and Quetta have become popular hubs for purchasing and selling American weapons and equipment used by the former Afghanistan government’s forces. These weapons have found buyers not only among Pakistanis and the Taliban in the region but also in Syria and Jordan.
The markets in Adam khil Valley and Quetta have attracted a large number of customers seeking to purchase these weapons and equipment. These markets have become specialized and crowded areas for buying and selling American weapons and equipment left behind by the former Afghanistan government’s forces. The demand for these weapons has extended beyond Pakistan, with customers from Syria and Jordan also showing interest in buying them.
The market for the transfer of weapons and military equipment from the US and the previous Afghanistan government’s security forces has expanded in Pakistan following the rise of the Taliban. Prior to this, the US Congress and its politicians referred to the Taliban as the second-largest seller of American weapons worldwide, second only to the US itself. They claimed that Taliban officials were amassing wealth by selling equipment and weapons obtained from the previous government forces. Former US President Donald Trump recently stated that the Taliban acquired 700,000 weapons valued at 85 billion US dollars in Afghanistan, of which they only required 40,000, selling the remainder to accumulate wealth
Before this, Afghanistani politicians and soldiers from the previous government expressed their concerns about the sale of weapons and equipment by the Taliban, stating that the group’s leaders have amassed wealth through selling weapons to Pakistan. In the initial months of this year, the Pakistani newspaper, Dan, published a report quoting government officials who claimed that Pakistan is purchasing leftover weapons from the American army in Afghanistan to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Pakistani Taliban and other terrorist organizations. The newspaper further highlighted that the Taliban group in Afghanistan is in need of funds, and Pakistan is determined to acquire these weapons at any cost.
In the midst of these developments, an Israeli military official has addressed the concerning matter of the Taliban group’s sale of surplus weapons from the US and the former Afghanistan army. The official has revealed that the light weapons, originally in the possession of US forces and the former Afghanistan army, have now found their way into the hands of Palestinians in Gaza. Esteemed military experts have characterized the downfall of Afghanistan’s previous government and the disintegration of its highly trained security forces as a longstanding objective of Pakistan. They have further elucidated that, following the disintegration of these forces, Pakistan is actively seeking to acquire these weapons by offering meager sums to the Taliban group. Moreover, Pakistan’s strategic aim is to prevent Afghanistan from possessing a future armed force equipped with advanced military capabilities.
Hasanullah Haidari, the former general of the Afghanistan army, revealed to RASC that Pakistan had previously exhibited a keen interest in acquiring the national treasures of the Afghanistan people, as well as the surplus military equipment abandoned by the Russians. They orchestrated the transfer of cultural and historical artifacts, including weaponry and military apparatus, to Pakistan. Disturbingly, Pakistan has once again embraced this policy, pillaging Afghanistan assets through their alliance with the Taliban and relocating them to their own nation. Under the Taliban’s rule, auctions were conducted in Quetta and Peshawar for the weaponry and military equipment that once belonged to the previous Afghanistan government.
