Taliban Celebrate Victory with Military Parade Using Captured US Weapons...

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The Afghan armed faction Taliban held a large-scale military parade showcasing US military weapons and various equipment seized from the Afghan government forces. This is interpreted as a move to celebrate and promote their victory in the 20-year-long Afghan war.

According to foreign media including AFP on the 1st (local time), the Taliban held a large-scale military parade along the outskirts highway in Kandahar, the second largest city in Afghanistan, celebrating their victory. AFP reported that Taliban members flaunted their victory by arming themselves with US armored vehicles, cars, and weapons captured from the Afghan government forces.

Kandahar is known as the political base where the Taliban was officially formed in 1994, and the military parade was held immediately after US President Joe Biden’s national address on the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. This is interpreted as a show of force aimed at Afghan warlord factions negotiating with the Taliban for a comprehensive government, as well as the Panjshir resistance forces who have not yet surrendered.

Previously, the US government provided military support worth $83 billion (approximately 97 trillion KRW) to the Afghan government after the 2001 Afghan war. From 2003 to 2016, the US supplied the Afghan military with over 350,000 rifles, over 64,000 machine guns, about 25,000 grenade launchers, and over 22,000 Humvee vehicles. Additionally, from 2017 to this year, the US provided the Afghan military with about 3,000 more Humvees and approximately 3,500 M4 rifles. It is estimated that a significant portion of these fell into the hands of the Taliban.

Furthermore, the Taliban, which previously had no air force capabilities, reportedly seized a considerable number of Afghan military aircraft including Black Hawks after occupying Kabul. According to the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), as of the end of June, the Afghan Air Force operated a total of 167 aircraft including attack helicopters. The fleet included multi-purpose Black Hawk helicopters, MD-530F armed helicopters, Russian-made MI-17 helicopters, and Brazilian-made A-29 light attack aircraft.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.