(ETH) – Taliban fighters have seized $62 BILLION worth of military equipment from Western forces including state-of-the-art helicopters and armored vehicles as troops scrambled to withdraw from Afghanistan.
According to the shocking report from TheSun, An eye-watering amount of US military inventory is now in the hands of the terror group after they surged across the war-torn nation in a matter of weeks, plundering stocks of weapons and vehicles.
The Taliban now has access to billions of pounds worth of equipment, including identification devices that could alarmingly help them identify Afghans who helped coalition forces – many of whom remain stranded in Kabul. According to US Republican Congressman Jim Banks –
who served in Afghanistan as an officer in charge of supplying weapons – the group now has “more Black Hawk helicopters than 85 percent of the countries in the world”. “Due to the negligence of this administration, the Taliban now has access to $85billion (£62billion) worth of military equipment,” he said. Here is a breakdown of estimated vehicle costs provided by Forbes.
- Armored personnel carriers such as the M113A2 cost $170,000 each and recent purchases of the M577A2 post carrier cost $333,333 each.
- Mine resistant vehicles ranges from $412,000 to $767,000. The total cost could range between $382 million to $711 million.
- Recovery vehicles such as the ‘truck, wrecker’ cost between for the base model $168,960 and $880,674 for super strength versions.
- Medium range tactical vehicles include 5-ton cargo and general transport trucks were priced at $67,139. However, the family of MTV heavy vehicles had prices ranging from $235,500 to $724,820 each. Cargo trucks to transport airplanes cost $800,865.
- Humvees – ambulance type (range from $37,943 to $142,918 with most at $96,466); cargo type, priced at $104,682. Utility Humvees were typically priced at $91,429. However, the 12,000 lb. troop transport version cost up to $329,000.
- Light tactical vehicles: Fast attack combat vehicles ($69,400); and passenger motor vehicles ($65,500). All-terrain 4-wheel vehicles go up to $42,273 in the military databases.
