US arms in Afghanistan fuel Pak terrorism, experts by Yoannis Gherbawi

Abandoned US weapons in Afghanistan are reaching terrorist groups. Taliban-backed militants use modern arms for cross-border attacks in Pakistan.

The pullout of US forces from Afghanistan has indeed left a cache of sophisticated weapons that is now turning out to be a potent threat to regional security. As reports suggest, these arms are being used by militant groups operating under the patronage of the Afghan Taliban regime for attacks in neighboring countries, including Pakistan.

US-made arms left behind in Afghanistan increasingly surfaced to target security forces and civilians by the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or the TTP, as it has largely relied on them, American journal The Geo Politics said. According to the report, a series of incidents in different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province revealed the involvement of modern rifles, night vision devices, and other sophisticated military equipment.

These weapons, abandoned by US forces, have found their way to militant networks. “Their use in attacks not only endangers Pakistan’s security but also threatens stability across the region.”

The Geo Politics report calculates that the overall value of US arms abandoned in Afghanistan is over seven billion dollars. Included in the equipment are M4 and M16 rifles, night vision goggles, and other high-tech military hardware that have now fallen into the terrorist groups operating with Afghan Taliban support.

Investigations indicate that these weapons are being openly sold in Afghanistan’s black market and have, until now, been fairly easily acquired by several terrorist networks. The Pakistani authorities have time and again provided proof of the cross-border attacks carried out using these US-origin arms.

Experts, meanwhile, say that the easy availability of such weapons is emboldening militant organisations in Pakistan and also creating a greater peril to peace and stability in South Asia. “The Taliban-backed groups are using abandoned US arms to escalate violence, and the silence of the international community complicates efforts to address the issue,” said a security analyst who has been tracking developments in the region.

The situation in Afghanistan had worsened following the Taliban takeover, with a worsening economy and the weakening of governance-a form of fertile ground for the illicit arms trade. United Nations reports have seen the proliferation of weapons as one of the contributing factors to the rise in instability in the region.

For Pakistan, the repercussions are palpable: attacks on security forces, civilian casualties, and continued terrorism along the border districts. Analysts say that unless the international community steps in to secure abandoned arms and try to stop the flow, the region will remain plagued with serious security threats. The widespread US weaponry in Afghanistan, to begin with, and then the Taliban regime’s support for militant groups multiplier are a surefire shot in the urgent direction of coordinated regional and global action lest the violence escalate further. Without intervention, these guns will stay a heavy catalyst for terrorism across Pakistan and South Asia, warn experts.