The chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee Michael McCaul expressed dissent over recent remarks made by US National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby that no military weapons were left behind in Afghanistan during US exit.
McCaul called Kirby’s statements “insane” in a CNN interview on Sunday.
“John Kirby made the comment that no weapons were left behind, which is insane,” McCaul told a reporter, “There are $7 billion of weapons. And I can show you the tapes of the weapons and the cash that were left behind.”
On Wednesday, the US National Security Council Coordinator said during a press conference that the US did not leave behind any military equipment for terrorist organizations in Afghanistan.
“The equipment that people are saying the Americans left behind, that was equipment that was transferred well in advance of our departure to the Afghan National Security Forces.” Kirby indicated.
He added that the usable military gear was to train and support these security forces as they took charge of the security in Afghanistan.
Kirby’s comments came days after Pakistan’s interim Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar claimed that US military equipment left behind during Afghanistan withdrawal was now empowering militants, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) which has intensified its deadly attacks against Pakistani security forces but also civilians in recent months.
Kakar said that the TTP has been strengthened following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and has now armed themselves with thermal weapons, assault rifles, night vision goggles, and other equipment that US and NATO troops left.
