"Nearly $7.2 billion worth of aircraft, guns, vehicles, ammunition, and specialized equipment" was abandoned in Afghanistan when the Biden administration carried out its rushed evacuation, according to a report published in late February by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), the federal watchdog group that monitors U.S. expenditures in the country.
"At least 78 aircraft worth $923.3 million, 9,524 air-to-ground munitions valued at $6.54 million, over 40,000 vehicles, more than 300,000 weapons, and nearly all night vision, surveillance, communications, and biometric equipment provided to the [Afghan defense forces] were left behind," according to information disclosed in SIGAR’s report.
The report comes ahead of the first public hearing on the Afghanistan withdrawal in the Republican-controlled House Wednesday and is likely to fuel questions on why the administration failed to prevent the Taliban from stealing U.S. military hardware. House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Michael McCaul (R., Texas) says the Biden administration has stonewalled his committee's attempts to obtain documents that could provide a window into the administration’s mishandling of the operation.
