Video: https://www.dropbox.com/s/mmbjv0x2ddmh73u/VRP59388.mp4?dl=0
Taliban soldiers showed off plundered American military vehicles in a victory procession in Kandahar City on Wednesday September 1.
The militants paraded dozens of newly-seized Humvees and armoured SUVs through the streets, waving the white Taliban flag as a Black Hawk helicopter bearing the same flew overhead.
The celebratory showcase came a day after Taliban fighters took full control of the Hamid Karzai International Airport, where they were seen inspecting military hardware left behind by U.S. forces. Footage filmed by Taliban soldiers at the airport showed burnt firearms and a helicopter with destroyed avionics.
Marine General Frank McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, previously said dozens of military equipment, vehicles, and aircraft have been ‘demilitarized’ prior to U.S. withdrawal, rendering them useless to Taliban soldiers.
He said: ‘It’s a complex procedure, complex and time-intensive procedure to break down those systems so we de-militarized those systems so that they’ll never be used again, and we just felt it more important to protect our forces than to bring those systems back.’
Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the U.S. was “not overly concerned” about the Taliban’s seizure of American weaponry.
He said: ‘They can inspect all they want, they can look at them, they can walk around, but they can’t fly them.’
‘The only thing that we left operable are a couple of fire trucks and some forklifts so that the airport itself can remain more operational going forward.’