By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A US-manufactured M4A1 carbine rifle, shipped to Afghanistan in 2018, was recovered in Pakistan last month following a militant train hijacking that killed 26 people, Pakistani officials said, highlighting how American military gear abandoned after the 2021 withdrawal fuels regional instability, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
The rifle, serial number W1004340 and bearing Colt Manufacturing markings, was part of a cache of 63 US-supplied weapons—including M16 rifles, M4 carbines, and night-vision devices—seized from militants in 2024, according to US Army and Pentagon records obtained by The Washington Post via the Freedom of Information Act.
Last month, rifles were recovered in the aftermath of a deadly train hijacking by militants in Balochistan.
Over $7 billion in U.S. military equipment, including 250,000 rifles and 18,000 night-vision goggles, was left in Afghanistan after the withdrawal, a 2023 report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) found. Pakistani officials and analysts say these arms now bolster insurgent groups like the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and Baloch separatists.
“They have the latest American-made weapons,” said Ahmad Hussain, 35, a Pakistani special forces constable wounded in a 2023 attack. “They could see us, but we couldn’t see them.”
“The presence of US advance weapons … has been an issue of profound concern for the safety and security of Pakistan,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement in late January.
The Pentagon declined responsibility, stating the equipment became Afghan government property upon transfer. “We had no intention of recovering them,” a senior U.S. defense official said, noting recovered items represent a “minuscule portion” of abandoned stocks.
President Donald Trump recently threatened to withhold aid to Afghanistan unless the Taliban returns the gear, calling it “top-of-the-line stuff.”
“We left billions, tens of billions of dollars’ worth of equipment behind … all the top-of-the-line stuff,” Trump said during his first Cabinet meeting, in February. “I think we should get a lot of that equipment back.”
His remarks have reignited hope in Islamabad that the United States will move more decisively to account for its missing military gear. But most believe it is already too late to stem the flow of illicit arms.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid dismissed the demand. “They’re now the property of Afghanistan,” Mujahid said in response to Trump. “No one can take them away from us.”
Advanced U.S. gear, including night-vision devices sold for as low as $300 post-withdrawal, has enhanced militant capabilities. Pakistani Army Major Zaheer Hassan, injured in a 2023 attack, said insurgents now pair such tools with drones, making combat “much more dangerous.”
A 2023 U.N. report alleged the Afghan Taliban supplies weapons to the TTP, though both deny it. Propaganda videos show TTP fighters using thermal optics and infrared lasers.
Weapons bazaars near Pakistan’s border, like Darra Adamkhel, saw a surge in U.S. arms post-2021. “The market was flooded,” said trader Raz Muhammad. Though crackdowns have curbed open sales, militants still access advanced gear.
Tensions escalated in late December when Pakistani airstrikes killed 46 in Afghanistan. Islamabad, struggling to secure international support, has urged Washington to address the arms flow. A Pakistani Foreign Ministry official, speaking anonymously, said the U.S. should “buy back” equipment or intervene.
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