The Taliban Now Have Many Helicopters and Warplanes Made in the US and Russia

ACCEPT – After Taliban Taking control of an airfield in Kandahar, Afghanistan, photos have surfaced on social media showing Taliban fighters posing with military helicopters such as the US-made Black Hawk and Soviet-made Mi-17.

After the group took over Mazar-i-Sharif airport this weekend, more photos followed. This time a Taliban member stood beside an A-29 attack aircraft and an MD-530 utility helicopter.

Now, with Afghanistan in the hands of the Taliban, the question is no longer whether the organization will gain access to the Afghan air force inventory of US-supplied planes and helicopters, but what to do with those weapons. So what can the US military do to respond.

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“The Afghan air force operates a total of 211 aircraft, with about 167 aircraft and helicopters available for use as of June 30,” said a July report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

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So far, the US Department of Defense has not confirmed how many of the planes have been captured by the Taliban, how many of them are still operational and how many have been flown safely by Afghan air force pilots to relative safety in other countries. neighboring countries.

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During a briefing at the Pentagon on Monday, Major General Hank Taylor, deputy director of the Joint Staff for regional operations, said he had no information about whether the US military would take steps to prevent aircraft or other military equipment from being used by the Taliban.

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