RASC: According to the report of an organization, monitoring the peace in Afghanistan, the market of buying and selling and proliferation of weapons, especially American weapons, is still thriving in Afghanistan under the control of the Taliban.
This institution mentioned in its report that the provinces where the arms market is booming are Helmand, Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces.
This organization added in its report that the fall of the previous government has increased access to weapons and reduced their prices.
This report has reported the reluctance of the Taliban group to prevent the purchase and sale of American M-4 and M-16 rifles and night vision cameras and heat detectors and their transfer to Pakistan.
Based on this report, the dynamics of arms trafficking is highly localized due to the internal dynamics of the Taliban.
From the point of view of the producers of this report, the commercial, political, security interests, and the long-term relations of this group with armed groups and smuggling networks have strengthened this dynamic.
The peace watcher said in its report that American weapons stockpiles have circulated in the region, which has caused easy access to these weapons by groups allied to the Taliban, such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
According to the report of this organization, weapons markets have increased in the border areas under the control of this group.
This report says that the situation of the weapons market varies from one province to another.
The report added that the price of weapons decreased at the beginning of the collapse of the previous government, but due to the increasing control of the Taliban group over the arsenal of the former defense and security forces, it has risen again.
In this report, for example, it is stated that a member of the Taliban group in Nangarhar has sold four new M-4 weapons for 600,000 Pakistani rupees.
Another member of the Taliban sold these weapons in the same province for a similar price.
The report says that the Taliban group has taken steps to formalize the process of buying, selling, and transferring weapons.
According to this report, the authorities of the Taliban group in the provinces issue permits to carry weapons in exchange for taxes.
According to the authors of this report, on the one hand, this will increase the income of this group, and on the other hand, it will lead to the expansion of their power.
This Peace Watch report was prepared based on field research in the three provinces of Helmand, Kandahar and Nangarhar, especially the border areas, at the end of 2022.
The researchers of this organization visited at least six arms markets in this province and talked to those who traded and smuggled small arms and the low-ranking members of the Taliban group.
According to this report, they have also witnessed the transfer of weapons in the border areas.
Despite the fact that the Taliban group has confiscated weapons, the flow of buying, selling and smuggling weapons is still ongoing.
Afghanistan Peace Watch is a non-governmental organization based in the United States, which previously operated in this country based on the license of the Ministry of Economy of Afghanistan.
This institution prepares reports and analyzes on the field of peace and security in Afghanistan, and in its introduction on its website, it has written that it is connected with a wide network of journalists and civil activists in Afghanistan.
