Military aircraft, vehicles taken out of Afghanistan: officials

KABUL: Officials from the Cultural Commission of the Ministry of Information and Culture of the caretaker cabinet on Tuesday said military equipment of the former government had been transferred out of Afghanistan.

Footage published on social media showed several Afghan air force helicopters in Uzbekistan and images also showed Humvees and Ranger trucks being transferred into Iran. Noor Mohammad Mutavakil, a member of the Cultural Commission, said some of the military hardware transferred into Iran has been returned to Afghanistan. However, he did not say who had transferred the hardware out of the country.

“Requests should be made for its return because it belongs to our people—if it is tanks or helicopters. Some hardware has been brought back from Iran,” he said. Meanwhile, a number of MPs and former military officers said military hardware belongs to the people and no one should be allowed to take it out of the country.

Sayed Ahmad Silab, an MP, said that following the collapse of the former government after Ashraf Ghani fled, dozens of helicopters and hundreds of Humvees were transferred out of the country. “The Islamic Emirate should bring back the military hardware from the neighboring countries,” he said. “This is the third time that our air and land forces have disintegrated. It is a loss, and I am very worried,” said Abdul Hadi Quraishi, a former military officer.

Based on available figures, Afghanistan had 160 fighting helicopters and 22,176 armored Humvees when the former government was in power. Now, however, it is not clear how much of this hardware remains inside the country and how much has been transferred out.