WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has once again criticised the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, describing it as a “disastrous withdrawal” and suggesting that Washington could seek the return of military equipment left behind after the pull-out.
Speaking to reporters during the recently concluded G7 summit in France, Trump said the United States could explore the possibility of recovering some of the military hardware abandoned in Afghanistan, although he acknowledged that much of it had become old and was no longer of significant practical value.
“Maybe I’ll get all that equipment back,” Trump said. “It’s more symbolic now because it’s getting a little old, but maybe we’ll get it all back.” The remarks are the latest in a series of comments by Trump on the issue, which he has repeatedly raised since the end of the US military mission in Afghanistan.
He has consistently characterised the withdrawal as a major foreign policy failure and has previously suggested that any future American assistance to Afghanistan could be linked to the return of the equipment.
The Taliban regime had not issued an immediate response to Trump’s latest remarks. However, senior officials of the Taliban administration have previously rejected the prospect of returning the military equipment, describing such expectations as unrealistic.
Chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid has earlier dismissed calls for the return of the hardware, maintaining that the equipment now belongs to Afghanistan and forms part of the country’s assets.
Meanwhile, political analyst Janat Fahim Chakari said the prospect of recovering the equipment was highly unlikely, noting that much of the hardware had either lost its usefulness or had already been distributed across different parts of the country, according to TOLO news.
“The United States neither wants nor can recover the military equipment left behind in Afghanistan because it is no longer useful and has already been distributed across the country,” Chakari said.
Trump’s latest remarks are expected to revive debate over the legacy of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the fate of billions of dollars’ worth of military assets left behind following the end of America’s two-decade presence in the country.
According to a 2022 report by the US Department of Defense, military equipment worth billions of dollars remained in Afghanistan following the withdrawal of American forces in August 2021.
US officials have previously said much of the hardware was rendered inoperable before the pull-out, while some equipment was subsequently taken over by the Taliban authorities.
