National Security Adviser Admits Taliban Seized 'Fair Amount' of US Military Hardware
Taliban now ‘world’s most heavily armed terror group’ after seizing US tanks and wea
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Democrat Joe Biden's National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has admitted that a "fair amount" of U.S. Military hardware has now fallen into the hands of the Taliban after the terrorist group seized control of Afghanistan.
Taliban fighters surged across Afghanistan in a matter of days, plundering stocks of American weapons and vehicles as they toppled the Afghan government.
The Taliban has now looted enough weaponry that it has earned itself the title of the "world's most heavily armed terror group."
With an estimated 85,000 soldiers, the Taliban managed to break the back of the much larger Afghan Army.
The terrorist helped themselves to huge stocks of American weaponry that were abandoned by U.S. troops when Biden order the immediate withdrawal from the country.
The weapons and vehicles are US military-grade that were handed over by Washington as part of the $83billion spent trying to prop up Afghanistan's armed forces.
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When asked what is expected to happen to the U.S weaponry that was eft behind, Sullivan admitted that it is now most likely in the hands of the Taliban.
"We don't have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defense materials has gone," the Biden admin official said during a White House press conference.
"But certainly a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban," he added.
"Obviously we don't have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport."
WATCH:
Asked what is expected to happen to weaponry U.S. gave Afghan military, NSA Jake Sullivan says, "Certainly a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban, and obviously we don't have a sense that they are going to readily hand it over to us at the airport." pic.twitter.com/ft8Pmb0eWX
— ABC News (@ABC) August 17, 2021
The world has been witnessing the Taliban's swift takeover of Afghanistan as the U.S. seeks to pull out of the country.
And while seizing control, the Taliban has also procured military equipment supplied to Afghanistan by the U.S.
"A U.S. defense official on Monday confirmed the Taliban's sudden accumulation of U.S.-supplied Afghan equipment is enormous," the Associated Press has reported.
"The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and so spoke on condition of anonymity."
Helicopters have been among the equipment that has been obtained by the Taliban, according to the AP.
USA Today reported that the Taliban has released photos of U.S. Black Hawk helicopters that the U.S. supplied to the Afghan army.
Sullivan explained Tuesday that Black Hawks had been supplied to the Afghan National Security Forces at the request of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who "came to the Oval Office and asked for additional air capability, among other things."
Sullivan said that Joe Biden faced a decision.
"He could not give it to them ... Or he could give it to them with the hope that they could deploy it in service of defending their country," Sullivan said.
"Both of those options had risks. He had to choose."
Ghani recently fled amid the Taliban's takeover of the country.
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Brett Bruen, who served as director of global engagement at the Obama White House, has argued in an opinion piece for USA Today that Sullivan and others should be fired over America's "botched" Afghanistan withdrawal.
"President Biden needs to fire his national security adviser and several other senior leaders who oversaw the botched execution of our withdrawal from Afghanistan," Bruen wrote.
"He has to restructure how and with whom he is making major foreign policy decisions, allowing for more input from career experts."
