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| Afghanistan | |
| Taliban Earning Billions, Giving American Weaponry to Terrorist Groups as Afghanistan Once Again Becomes Jihadi Hotbed: Report | |
| 2025-05-08 | |
[Free Beacon] The Taliban took in $3.4 billion in revenue over the last year,
The repercussions of the Biden administration’s disastrous 2021 military withdrawal from Afghanistan continue to reverberate across the war-torn country, with multiple al Qaeda affiliates accessing American-supplied "weapons seized from the former Afghan National Army," according to a new oversight report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The United States left 78 aircraft, 40,000 military vehicles, and over 300,000 weapons in Afghanistan in a withdrawal that saw 13 American service members lose their lives. According to the SIGAR report—which the watchdog group delivered to Congress on April 30—the Taliban transferred many of these arms directly to terrorist affiliates, while others made their way to the black market. The Pentagon assesses that of around $18.6 billion worth of U.S. equipment provided to the Afghan Army over decades of support, $7.12 billion in weaponry remains in the Taliban’s possession. As a result, "terrorist groups continued to operate in and from Afghanistan amid ongoing U.S., UN, and regional concerns that the country remains a terrorist haven." More than two dozen terrorist organizations are currently active in Afghanistan, including the Islamic State-affiliated Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). At least four al Qaeda offshoots are also using the country to organize operations. "Terrorist groups," SIGAR reported, "continued to use Afghan soil to train and plan attacks and a ’small but steady’ flow of foreign terrorists continued to travel to Afghanistan and join one of over two dozen terror groups based there." Related: SIGAR: 2025-04-13 US Senate Reviews Military Presence in Afghanistan From 2001 to 2008 SIGAR: 2025-02-08 Rep. Tim Burchett: $40 Million a Week in U.S. Taxpayer Funds Still Going to Taliban SIGAR: 2025-01-03 The staggering toll US failure in Afghanistan had on taxpayers is laid bare by government auditor | |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #4 Jairong - of 18+ nyms - doesn't deal in facts |
| Posted by: Frank G 2025-05-08 18:47 |
| #3 The Taliban has both protected and banned opium production, alternating depending on their own needs — whether they need more money or to placate the outside world. Last I recall, they had several years’ worth in storage, so they banned more planting. And who knows — the border wall Iran is currently building may prove to be impervious to narco bribes as well as Afghan refugees. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2025-05-08 16:01 |
| #2 The Taliban banned opium production. It was the deep state who brought it back, with the poppy fields guarded by our own soldiers. Sickening. |
| Posted by: Jairong+Scourge+of+the+Gepids2435 2025-05-08 15:31 |
| #1 Biden owns this! |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2025-05-08 15:30 |