When the US pulled out of Afghanistan, it left nearly $7 billion worth of military equipment and weapons. To put things into perspective, that’s worth more than Pakistan’s foreign reserves at the present moment.
Now, these weapons are turning up in Pakistan, boosting the military capabilities of the already ruthless TTP, which has staged various attacks on police and security personnel in the country these last two years.
Those who still believe that the rogue government in Kabul and its long-time ally aren’t ideologically aligned might be persuaded to reconsider their position.
Pakistan is now bearing the brunt of Washington’s recklessness, which, now, claims that they can’t retrieve the weapons given that they don’t recognise the legitimacy of the Taliban’s government. After American groups made their hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban proudly paraded around in US-made Humvees and armoured SUVs.
There was never a plan in place to evacuate this equipment, despite the security implications that it would inevitably create both for the Afghans living under the Taliban’s reign of terror and neighbouring Pakistan, which, simply, doesn’t have the resources to combat weapons of that scale and sophistication.
American negligence has single-handedly catalysed a black market that has not been seen since the 80s when terrorist groups seized Russian and Chinese weapons. This time, though, the technologies are far more advanced, more precise and more tailored towards the terror that the TTP hopes to invoke. Indeed, the TTP’s resurgence wasn’t just an unfortunate coincidence.
It is a direct consequence of decades of colluding with their allies in Kabul, who, despite their claims to the contrary, have been more than happy to provide the group with whatever they need to wreak havoc on Pakistani territory.
For the Pakistani policemen on the line of duty, the TTP’s newly-acquired capabilities place them at an immense disadvantage, especially considering the state’s inaction after the Peshawar bombing: easily, the worst terrorist attack in a decade. It is the government’s responsibility to protect the people it has placed on its line of fire-keeping morale up is essential in winning the fight against the TTP. *