Afghanistan: photos show US military equipment left behind at Kabul airport
- Military equipment left at Kabul airport now ‘unusable’, Pentagon says
- Includes dozens of MRAPS, Humvees, aircraft and counter-rocket systems
The US military likely abandoned tens of millions of dollars’ worth of aircraft, armoured vehicles and sophisticated defensive systems in the rush to leave the airport in Kabul safely.
Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of US Central Command, said some of the equipment had been “demilitarised”, essentially rendered inoperable. Troops probably used thermate grenades, which burn at temperatures of 4,000 degrees Celsius, to destroy key components of the equipment, according to a defence department official who was not authorised to speak publicly.
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War wreckage left at Kabul airport after hasty American pull-out from Afghanistan
Some pieces of equipment probably were blown up. Another defence official, also not authorised to speak publicly, acknowledged that a blast heard last week at the airport was related to destroying equipment.
McKenzie rattled off a list of the items Monday during the announcement of the end of the 20-year involvement in Afghanistan, America’s longest war:
MRAPs