Taliban took “a lot” of US weapons

The White House reported on Tuesday that much of the US weapons handed over to the Afghan armed forces are now in the hands of the Taliban and that President Joe Biden has not spoken to any other world leader since the Islamist movement took power. from the country.

“He has yet to speak to any other world leader,” he said on Tuesday. Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor, at a press conference from the White House, in which he also reported that the evacuation of diplomatic staff has already been completed. WE.

“Myself, secretary (Antony) Blinken and several other high-level members of the team have been in regular contact with foreign counterparts and we plan to do so in the coming days,” he anticipated, quoted by the AFP news agency.

On the same line, Sullivan said much of the US weapons handed over to the Afghan armed forces are now in the hands of the Taliban after they took control of Afghanistan. after two decades of war with the United States.

Photos and videos show the Taliban with guns and vehicles used by Pentagon troops or supplied to Afghan National Security Forces, as well as state-of-the-art UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters and other equipment at the airport from Kandahar.

“We don’t have a complete idea, obviously, where every piece of defense gear went, but certainly a fair amount has fallen into the hands of the Taliban and obviously we don’t think they’re going to be easily delivered to. us at the airport. “he said, quoted by the Sputnik news agency.

Sullivan argued that the loss of control of millions of dollars in military supplies at the hands of a politico-military actor who for decades was viewed as an enemy is an example of “the difficult decision to be made by the President in the context of the end of a war. 20 years “.

He also tried to convey tranquility by ruling out the possibility that the Taliban would establish a “symbiotic” relationship with the Islamic State (IS).

“It’s pretty well documented that the Taliban and ISIS-K (IS) are fighting, so I don’t foresee a symbiotic relationship there, although these are dynamic scenarios, so we’ll have to see how that evolves. “, to analyse.

The Taliban began their offensive in May, after Biden announced the departure of American troops by the end of this month, and having taken almost all of the country in the past ten days, they entered Kabul. last Sunday and caused the flight of President Ashraf. .

Government forces, which had been supported by US troops since 2001 until the announcement of its withdrawal three months ago, quickly succumbed to the Islamist insurgency and they gave up control of large arms warehouses.

The sudden rush to get foreigners out of Afghanistan after the Taliban victory took the White House by surprise and raised concerns in Europe about a possible massive influx of refugees.

After hours of tension due to agglomerations unleashed by the thousands of Afghan citizens and diplomats who rushed to Kabul airport yesterday in a desperate attempt to leave Afghanistan, which resulted in the establishment being closed for security concerns, the Pentagon announced this morning the resumption of evacuation operations.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday that although the withdrawal of its main diplomatic presence has already been concluded, some embassy staff have remained in Afghanistan to help with the efforts of evacuation at the airport.

“We have now completed the downsizing of our diplomatic presence and at this time we no longer need to facilitate the departure of our embassy staff,” Price said., during a press conference.

The final departure of the US military from Afghanistan, which had been agreed by former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) and the Taliban, will take place in the coming weeks; a decision defended by Biden since, according to him, the Americans “must not die in a war that the Afghans are not ready to fight for themselves”.

Currently, according to White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, the government’s attention is focused on the tense process of evacuating thousands of Americans and Afghan allies from Kabul, which involves “coordination at a lower level. to that of Afghan leaders and heads of state “.

Sullivan said today that the Taliban had promised “a secure pass” for civilians wishing to leave the country.