John Kirby Said The US Didn't Abandon Military Equipment In Afghanistan

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VOA
US Dismisses as 'Farce' Claims of Abandoning Arms in Afghanistan
December 20, 2023

ISLAMABAD — 
The United States has again denied leaving any weapons in Afghanistan during the American military’s withdrawal from the country in August 2021, dismissing such allegations as “farce."

John Kirby, U.S. National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, made the comments Tuesday just days after Pakistan urged the United Nations to investigate how Afghan-based militants are acquiring “sophisticated weapons” to carry out terrorist attacks in the country.

“This is a fallacy, this is a farce. What we did, over the course of our 20 years in Afghanistan, of course, with congressional approval and consultations, was arm and help equip the Afghan national security forces,” Kirby told a White House news conference.

He explained that in the face of advances by the Taliban insurgency during the U.S. troop withdrawal, many Afghan forces had decided not to fight and lay down their arms.

“The 'arms' that you're talking about, and again, I can't verify these particular reports, belonged to the Afghan national security forces,” Kirby said.

“That’s what was left behind. Not that the United States just walked away and abandoned a bunch of weapons in a pile in Afghanistan. That's simply not historically accurate.”

Pakistani authorities maintain militants linked to the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, have intensified cross-border attacks from Afghan sanctuaries since the foreign troops withdrew and the Taliban seized power in the neighboring country two years ago