Some of the military vehicles previously operated by the Afghan Air Force stationed at Kandahar Airport have apparently ended up in the hands of the Taliban* after the terrorist group seized an airbase earlier this week.
In a series of videos and photos released by the terrorist group, at least two UH-60 Black Hawks and two Mi-17 helicopters can be seen apparently left by the retreating government forces at the airport. The Black Hawks were supplied by the US and are a part of Washington's $88 billion spending on the security of the country and efforts to boost the Afghan military's preparedness to fight the Taliban without any external assistance.
Additionally, a person can be heard in the background claiming that a total of five military helicopters and several jets had been seized by the Taliban at Kandahar Airport. The videos, however, suggest that not all of the equipment might be operational. One Mi-17 is missing rotor blades, while another is covered in a sheet with its blades either missing, or folded, or removed for storage.
One of the US-supplied Black Hawks, in turn, seemingly has one of its engines disassembled for repairs. At the same time, another iconic American helicopter is seen on the tarmac seemingly ready for lift off. There is no telling whether the Taliban has pilots capable of operating these machines, but a video released earlier this week showed alleged Taliban fighters being transported by helicopter to an unknown location.
The Taliban has in the past repeatedly seized Washington-supplied small arms, equipment, and armoured vehicles from the Afghan Army, which has often either fled or switched sides. The terrorist movement has made significant advances in recent months amid the US and NATO withdrawal from the country, entering the capital Kabul on 15 August as President Ashraf Ghani reportedly left the country following surrender negotiations. A month earlier, US President Joe Biden insisted during a presser that a Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was "not inevitable" and suggested that the Afghan Army had enough forces to fight the group.
*The Taliban is a terrorist organisation banned in Russia