US Watchdog Confirms Taliban Now Rely on American Weapons Left Behind in Afghanistan

Web Desk (MNN); A final report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has confirmed that billions of dollars’ worth of American-supplied weapons, equipment, and security infrastructure abandoned during the 2021 US withdrawal now form the core of the Taliban’s security apparatus.

Parallel investigations by UN monitoring teams and The Washington Post also reveal that some of these weapons have made their way into the hands of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group responsible for rising terrorist attacks inside Pakistan.

The 137-page SIGAR report outlines the scale of the two-decade US effort to rebuild Afghanistan. Congress allocated nearly $144.7 billion between 2002 and 2021 to support reconstruction and democratic transition — efforts the report says ultimately failed to deliver either stability or democracy.

UN assessments highlight the regional fallout. A UN monitoring panel reported that the Afghan Taliban continue providing logistical and operational assistance to the TTP. At the same time, The Washington Post documented dozens of US-made weapons now recovered in Pakistan from militants targeting the state.

SIGAR says it lost visibility over equipment after the Taliban takeover. “Due to the Taliban takeover, SIGAR was unable to inspect any of the equipment provided to, or facilities constructed for, the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (ANDSF),” the report states.

The US Department of Defence has confirmed that roughly $7.1 billion worth of equipment was left behind — including thousands of vehicles, hundreds of thousands of small arms, night-vision devices, and more than 160 aircraft.

In Pakistan, the consequences are already visible. Serial numbers from at least 63 seized weapons match those originally supplied by Washington to Afghan forces. Pakistani officials told the US outlet that some rifles and carbines recovered from TTP fighters are “significantly superior” to weapons the group possessed before 2021.

UN monitoring reports estimate TTP’s strength at around 6,000 fighters operating across several Afghan provinces. The group is said to share training infrastructure with Al Qaeda. Denmark’s deputy envoy to the UN, Sandra Jensen Landi, told the Security Council that the TTP continues to receive “logistical and substantial support” from Kabul’s de facto rulers.

Earlier UN reports detailed Taliban-provided safe houses, weapons permits, movement authorisations, and protection from arrest for TTP leaders — enabling the group to expand and entrench itself inside Afghan territory. SIGAR’s quarterly updates for 2025 also document multiple cross-border attacks, including an assault in South Waziristan that killed 16 Pakistani personnel.

The final review reiterates the staggering scale — and futility — of US investment in Afghanistan’s security sector. Washington spent $31.2 billion on ANDSF equipment, infrastructure, and transport, purchasing 96,000 ground vehicles, over 427,000 weapons, 17,400 night-vision devices, and at least 162 aircraft for Afghan forces. As of July 2021, 131 US-supplied aircraft were still operational — almost all of which are now under Taliban control.

Another $11.5 billion was spent on military bases, headquarters, and training facilities — most of which are now under Taliban control or inaccessible.

The report concludes that America’s efforts were hindered from the start by flawed assumptions and partnerships with “corrupt, human-rights-abusing powerbrokers,” fuelling insurgency and hollowing out Afghan institutions. SIGAR estimates that $26–29.2 billion was lost to waste, fraud, and abuse.

The human costs, it notes, were even greater — tens of thousands of Afghan lives and over 2,450 American troops — only for the Taliban to return to power equipped with US-funded weapons.

Despite the collapse, the US remains Afghanistan’s largest donor, having provided over $3.83 billion in humanitarian and development aid since August 2021.

Closing its mandate after nearly 20 years, SIGAR warns that the Afghanistan experience should serve as a cautionary tale for future nation-building missions — a failure whose consequences are now reshaping regional security.