On Sunday, Taliban fighters performed a military parade in Kabul, displaying captured American-made armoured vehicles and Russian helicopters as part of their gradual transition from insurgents to genuine standing armies.
The Taliban have been rebel combatants for two decades, but they have overhauled their forces using the massive stockpile of weaponry and equipment left behind after the old Western-backed government collapsed in August.
The parade was held in conjunction with the graduation of 250 newly trained soldiers, according to Enayatullah Khwarazmi, a spokesperson for the defence ministry.
Hundreds of M117 armoured security vehicles from the United States drove slowly up and down a main Kabul route, with MI-17 helicopters patrolling overhead. Many soldiers were armed with M4 assault rifles made in the United States.
The majority of the weapons and equipment used by Taliban troops are those supplied by the United States to the American-backed government in Kabul in order to build an Afghan national force capable of battling the Taliban.
With Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s departure from Afghanistan, those troops dissolved, allowing the Taliban to seize control of important military assets.
Taliban officials have stated that former Afghan National Army pilots, mechanics and other professionals will be incorporated into a new army, which has also begun wearing conventional military uniforms rather than the traditional Afghan clothes used by their troops.
Post Your Comments