Afghanistan one of the biggest sellers of US military equipment: Trump

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump late on Thursday claimed that Afghanistan has become one of the world’s largest sellers of military equipment, using American weapons and vehicles left behind during the US withdrawal.

“You know that Afghanistan is one of the biggest sellers of military equipment in the world. You know why? They’re selling the equipment that we left,” Trump said during his first Cabinet meeting of the new administration. “We’re first. They were second or third. Can you believe it?”

He listed the scale of the abandoned hardware, saying Afghanistan now has 777,000 rifles and 70,000 armored trucks and vehicles, comparing it to the largest used car lots in the US.

“If you think of a used car lot, the biggest one in the country—JD, if somebody had 500 cars, that would be a lot.”

Trump said the US should demand the return of its military equipment from Afghanistan, arguing that the Taliban has profited from selling it on the international market.

“We left billions — tens of billions of dollars’ worth of equipment behind. Brand-new trucks,” he said. “You see them display it every year on their little roadway someplace where they have a road, and they drive— you know, waving the flag and talking about America.”

“We’re going to pay them. I think we should get a lot of that equipment back,” he added.

Trump said he had directed his team to investigate the matter. “If we’re doing that, I think they should give our equipment back. And I told Pete to study that.”

According to a joint report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) to Congress, an estimated $7.12 billion worth of US-funded military equipment was left behind in Afghanistan when the previous Afghan government collapsed.

Trump also renewed his criticism of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying that under his administration, the US would have kept control of Bagram Air Base, a massive military facility north of Kabul.

“We were going to keep Bagram, not because of Afghanistan but because of China, because it’s exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles,” he said.

Describing Bagram as “one of the biggest air bases in the world” with “one of the most powerful runways,” Trump blamed President Joe Biden for allowing China to take over the facility after the US withdrawal. “We gave it up. And you know who’s occupying it right now? China. Biden gave it up.”