FP: The collapse of the Afghan state amid the United States’ withdrawal in 2021 gifted the new Taliban government with more than $7 billion worth of U.S. military equipment. Afghanistan’s new overlords suddenly found themselves with fleets of Humvees, mountains of machine guns, and forests of radars and satellite dishes. The vast hardware hoard also
By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty May 25, 2023 Afghanistan’s hard-line Islamist Taliban rulers are keen on showcasing their government’s military prowess by frequently displaying repaired helicopters and planes from the country’s inventory of aging aircraft. But the once ragtag militant group that relied on small arms, rocket launchers, roadside bombs, and suicide bombers to
Ariana: The United States is giving Ukraine 16 Mi-17 helicopters that Washington had procured for the former Afghanistan government, a US watchdog agency said Wednesday. This comes after Uzbekistan authorities said last week that dozens of aircraft flown into their country in August last year, during the collapse of the former government, belong to the
Tolo News: Amanuddin Mansoor, commander of the air force, said the pilots who were trained and serving under the former government and who fled the country should return and they will be recruited back into the air force. Click here to read more (external link).
Reuters: Tajik officials blamed U.S. bureaucracy on Wednesday for a near three-month delay in evacuating U.S.-trained Afghan pilots, who had flown their aircraft to Tajikistan to escape the Taliban takeover of their country in August. Click here to read more (external link). Related Taliban urge ex-Afghan military pilots to stay, serve nation Afghan Pilots Land
By RFE/RL’s Tajik Service November 9, 2021 Around 150 U.S.-trained Afghan pilots are preparing to depart Tajikistan to be relocated to the United States after nearly three months of detention, pilots and U.S. Embassy officials said. The 143 pilots and about 50 other Afghans, including journalists, are waiting at the airport in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe,
8am: One of the pilots arrested in Tajikistan told the media that several thousand pilots, crew members, and other Afghan Air Force personnel are currently hiding and feeling abandoned by the US military. According to him, now these pilots and aircrew and their families are hidden and are in serious danger. Click here to read
WION’s Palki Sharma tells you how America has a history of arming terror groups.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 5, 2021 The Afghan Air Force on August 5 resumed air strikes against Taliban positions in southern Afghanistan as militants made additional gains in the country’s north. A Defense Ministry statement said air strikes were carried out across the country, including in the southern Helmand Province where government forces are
Reuters: At least seven Afghan pilots have been assassinated off base in recent months, two senior Afghan government officials told Reuters, part of what the Islamist Taliban says is a campaign to see U.S.-trained Afghan pilots “targeted and eliminated.” Click here to read more (external link).