Several Republican senators on Wednesday requested a full accounting of the US military equipment that was left in Afghanistan and might have fallen in the hands of the Taliban during the debacle with withdrawing the US troops from the South Asian country, Fox News informed.
The group of GOP senators penned a letter to Lloyd Austin, the Defense Secretary, to say that they were shocked to view the images where Taliban forces hold the US military equipment under their possession, including some Black Hawk helicopters.
The senators also urged the Pentagon to give detailed information about what kind of equipment was left behind in the country.
The lawmakers also stated that it is outrageous high-tech equipment paid by US taxpayers to fall into the possession of the Taliban forces. The letter also states that securing the US assets needs to be the number one priority for the Defense Department.
Concerns that the Taliban forces would seize US equipment intensified in recent days due to their offensive to retake Afghanistan. The United States has spent above $80 billion in order to equip the Afghan security forces and train them for combat.
Senators Chuck Grassley, Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Joni Ernst, and Rick Scott were some of those who signed the letter to Austin.
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley did not want to comment when he was asked on a press briefing about the possibility of equipment destruction rather than leaving it behind for the Taliban to get a hold of it.
Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor admitted that equipment of some kind was already in the possession of the Taliban forces.
The lawmakers wanted a full accounting of the equipment that was intended for the Afghan security forces, but also of the supplies that have been captured by the Taliban forces or the equipment destroyed before the US troops’ withdrawal.
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