Iran returns military goods from ousted Afghan government to Taliban
Kabul, Jun 8 (EFE).- The Taliban announced on Wednesday that the Iranian government had returned the military equipment and vehicles of the deposed Afghan government to the fundamentalists, which were taken out of the country after the seizure of power in Afghanistan last year.
“Military equipment taken to Iran during collapse of the previous administration including weaponry, humvees, ranger, fire trucks & other vehicles were returned to the Afghan government,” Taliban’s foreign ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi tweeted.
He added that the return of this military equipment to Afghanistan was a “positive step” in strengthening relations between the two countries.
The equipment includes 6 rangers, 6 Humvees tanks, 1 fire vehicle, 75 AK47s, 39 rockets, weaponry and vehicles, according to the Afghan government news agency Bakhter.
The military equipment returned were taken out of the country as the Taliban gained ground in Afghanistan following the process of final withdrawal of US and UN troops in May last year to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Islamists.
Once in power, the Taliban disbanded the security personnel of the previous government, with the exception of a number of people working in administrative roles prior to the arrival of fundamentalists.
They also dismissed the national army and replaced it with Taliban fighters, while a few former government servicemen worked as administrative officials.
In an interview with Afghanistan’s Radio Television Afghanistan, the Minister of Defense of the Islamist government, Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid, announced plans for the creation of a 110,000-strong army in Afghanistan.
Towards this end, the Taliban Wednesday initiated a process to distribute 20,000 new uniforms to the police in Kabul and Kandahar province in the south of the country, and is soon expected to extend to other major cities, interior ministry spokesperson Abdul Nafee Takur said at a press conference.
He added that another 100,000 police uniforms were being produced for distribution.
Iran shares a porous border with its Afghan neighbor and hosts some three million Afghan refugees who have fled over decades to escape the conflict in their home country.
Following the Taliban’s coming to power in August 2021, between 4,000 and 5,000 Afghan refugees arrive daily in Iran, according to data from the nonprofit Norwegian Refugee Council. EFE
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