Pentagon Spox: Some Weapons In Taliban’s Hands Have ‘Lethality Component’ But ‘It Doesn’t Pose A Threat To The United States’

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday the Taliban does not pose a threat to the U.S. or its neighbors despite having a cache of lethal American weapons.

“The kinds of equipment we’re talking about, while certainly there’s a lethality component to it, it doesn’t pose a threat to the United States, it doesn’t pose a threat to neighboring nations. These are not the kinds of things that the Taliban can make great strategic use out of,” Kirby said.

👀 Kirby says it’s okay that we left U.S. military assets and weapons behind for the Taliban because they don’t “pose a threat to the United States or pose a threat to neighboring nations.” #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/O9fnaQTnSd

— John Cooper (@thejcoop) August 31, 2021

The Taliban seized billions of dollars worth of military equipment the U.S. gave to the now-defunct Afghan military. The terrorist organization is now in possession of 2,000 armored vehicles and upwards of 40 aircraft including Black Hawks and ScanEagle drones, Reuters reported. (RELATED: Republicans Demand Full Accounting Of Equipment Seized By Taliban In Letter To White House)

The facade of a beauty saloon with images of women is defaced with spray paint in Shar-e-Naw in Kabul, Afghanistan.

UK warns Taliban will be judged on its “actions rather than by its words” : https://t.co/BIdWtMRtb5 pic.twitter.com/viXfxuGcjp

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 19, 2021

The Department of Defense has evaded several questions on the weapon seizure, with a top U.S. military official having said he didn’t “have information” about any efforts to take back the equipment that had been captured by the Taliban.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan did confirm the Taliban seized a “fair amount” of equipment in mid-August.