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Pentagon has no idea how much US military equipment seized by Taliban — spokesman

John Kirby pointed out that currently he has "no policy solutions" on how to resolve this issue
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby AP Photo/Susan Walsh
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby
© AP Photo/Susan Walsh

WASHINGTON, August 23. /TASS/. US Department of Defense is still unable to tell how many US weapons, shipped to the Afghan Armed Forces, ended up in the hands of the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) after it took control over the republic, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday.

He was asked during the press briefing, whether the Department of Defense attempted to calculate the number of US weapons and vehicles in the Taliban’s possession.

"I don’t have an exact inventory of what equipment the Afghans had at their disposal that now might be at risk. Obviously, we don’t want to see any weapons or systems to fall into hands of people that would use them in such a way to harm our interests," Kirby said, adding that he currently has "no policy solutions" on how to resolve this issue.

On August 15, Taliban (outlawed in Russia) militants entered the capital city of Kabul without fighting and took complete control over the city in a matter of hours. The President of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani announced that he was leaving the country in order to prevent bloodshed. Vice-President Amrullah Saleh claimed that in the absence of the president he becomes acting president in accordance with the Constitution. He urged the republic to continue fighting the Taliban. Meanwhile, Western states are in the process of evacuating their citizens and embassy employees from the republic.