Afghan watchdog: Weapons, equipment left behind form ‘core’ of Taliban security

The final report from a government watchdog tasked with overseeing Afghanistan’s reconstruction efforts declared that “US taxpayer-funded equipment, weapons and facilities” left behind during the chaotic 2021 US withdrawal “now constitute the core of the Taliban’s security apparatus.”

The 137-page document released this week from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) states that congress provided nearly $144.7 billion for Afghanistan’s reconstruction between 2002 and 2021, as part of a mission promising to bring stability and democracy to the country, “but ultimately achieved neither.”

“Due to the Taliban takeover, SIGAR was unable to inspect any of the equipment provided or facilities established for the ANSF following the collapse of the Afghan government,” the report said. “However, the Department of Defense determined that the United States left behind approximately $7.1 billion in materials and equipment it provided to the Afghan security forces.”

“Similarly, any remaining Afghan security force facilities that have not been destroyed can be assumed to be under Taliban control. This equipment, weapons and facilities funded by US taxpayers formed the core of the Taliban security apparatus,” he added.

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The US military withdrawal from Afghanistan ended in August 2021 under the Biden administration.

A Pentagon watchdog found the following year that “Afghan forces had 316,260 weapons worth $511.8 million, as well as ammunition and other equipment in their inventory when the previous government fell, although the operational status of these items was not known.”

“The Department of Defense reported that the U.S. military removed or destroyed virtually all major equipment used by U.S. forces in Afghanistan throughout the 2021 withdrawal period,” the Pentagon watchdog said at the time.

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Newly recruited students of the Afghan Taliban Ministry of Defense stand atop a military vehicle as they prepare to fire a heavy cannon during their graduation ceremony at the 203rd Mansouri Corps Military Training Center on the outskirts of Gardez, Afghanistan, on November 2, 2025. (AFP via Getty Images/)

In a SIGAR report released this week, Gene Alloise, acting inspector general for Afghanistan Reconstruction, wrote that “multiple factors contributed to the failure of US efforts to transform an underdeveloped, war-torn nation into a stable and prosperous democracy.”

“For example, early and continuing US decisions to ally with corrupt influencers who abuse human rights have strengthened the insurgency and undermined the mission, including US goals of bringing democracy and good governance to Afghanistan,” he wrote in a letter accompanying the report. “Efforts to improve economic and social conditions in Afghanistan also failed to make any lasting impact. Despite the United States allocating nearly $90 billion in security sector assistance, the Afghan security forces eventually rapidly collapsed in the absence of a sustained U.S. military presence.”

“The ANDF has remained dependent on the U.S. military in part because the United States designed the ANDF to be a mirror image of U.S. forces, requiring a high degree of professional military development and leadership,” the SIGAR report said.

“This has created long-term dependencies on the ANSF. As a result of these dependencies, the decision to withdraw all US military personnel and significantly reduce US support for the ANSF has destroyed the morale of Afghan soldiers and police,” the organization said.

Taliban fighters take control and secure Hamid Karzai International Airport, along with all the equipment and weapons left behind after the complete US military withdrawal from the country, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday, August 31, 2021. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times)

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It also revealed that “despite Afghanistan falling to the Taliban in 2021, the United States has remained the country’s largest donor, disbursing more than $3.83 billion in humanitarian and development aid there since then.” “In the March 2025 quarter alone, payments totaled $120 million.”