The Ta|iban have seized an air force worth tens of millions of pounds, including US-bought helicopters and at*ack planes, giving them more aerial firepower than many Nato members.
Over the last few months, the jihadists have captured 10 major airfields from Bagram to Mazar-i-Sharif, and today took to the skies in a $6 million Black Hawk helicopter in their fight against the resistance in the Panjshir Valley.
Ta|iban chiefs are reported to have ordered their troops to hunt down pilots from the disbanded Afghan Air Force, who received expensive training from the US and its allies to fly high-tech warplanes and choppers.
Without those pilots, flying such sophisticated aircraft is near-impossible for an amateur – but several videos of airborne terr0rists suggest they must have recruited some renegade wingmen.
Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul was seized on Tuesday by triumphant jihadists who were seen clambering into the cockpit of a $14 million Hercules transport jet – albeit clearly tilting over, suggesting its wheels were bust.
The Afghan Air Force was operating 167 aircraft, including 108 helicopters and 59 planes, according to an official U.S. government inspection on June 30.
Before Kabul fell, Uzbekistan confirmed that 46 Afghan aircraft, including 24 helicopters, had arrived in the country in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Ta|iban.
The commander of the US evacuation mission, Gen. Frank McKenzie, said American troops disabled 73 aircraft before finally leaving the country on Monday night.
Photos showed propellers and g*ns removed from planes and helicopters, while other aircraft lay with their fuselages directly on the tarmac, having had their wheels str!pped away rendering them inoperable.
That leaves as many as 48 aircraft seized by the Ta|iban, although it is unclear what the breakdown is in terms of planes and helicopters, or what condition these aircraft might be in. Many were built in the 1980s and will need constant servicing and parts to make sure they are airworthy, let alone capable of combat.
Nevertheless, if the Islamists have that many operational aircraft, it gives them more air power than 10 of the 30 Nato members, namely: Albania, Bosnia, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Slovenia.
The Ta|iban are believed to have got hold of as many as 48 aircraft which the US and its allies were either unable to disable or fly overseas. This means that the terr0rists have an air force which is greater in number than that of 10 Nato countries
A US-made $6 million UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter is seen flying over a convoy of Ta|iban fighters on its way to join the fight against the resistance in the Panjshir Valley on Wednesday
Ta|iban sends UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter towards Panjshir
A Ta|iban fighter poses in the cockpit of a C-130 Hercules transport plane that was left behind during the evacuation
An A-29 at*ack plane is surrounded by kit left behind by western forces as they retreated from Kabul airport
A-29 at*ack planes which appear largely intact are seen alongside a huge amount of western body armour and tactical helmets left behind by retreating troops
‘Latest addition to the Ta|iban airforce’: warplanes left for Ta|iban
At the top of the Nato tree is the United States with more than 13,000 aircraft, followed by France with 1,057, Turkey with 1,056, Italy with 876 and the United Kingdom with 738.
It is unclear how many former pilots the Ta|iban have been able to recruit, however, a video which emerged on social media this month showed a group of militants flying in a Russian-made Mi-17 chopper.
Another today, showed a Black Hawk heading to the contested Panjshir Valley north of Kabul where the country’s last stand is being fought by the Northern Alliance resistance fighters.
Aviation sources say it is unlikely that an amateur would be able to get such a helicopter off the ground, let alone be able to land it.
In addition, these aircraft – many of them dating back to the 1980s – will need expert mechanical care and new parts to keep them airborne.
And even then, the Ta|iban will need to provide funds to arm the aircraft, with the cost of bu|lets aside, the price of precision-guided miss!les becomes exorbitant – particularly for a ragtag government without the means to feed its starving populace.
According to the June 30 tally by the US-based Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar), the Afghan Air Force had 43 MD-530 helicopters, 33 Black Hawks, 32 Mi-17s, 33 C-208 propeller planes, 23 A-19 turboprop light at*ack planes and 3 Hercules C-130s.
Footage shows Ta|iban forces driving tanks through Kandahar
Bigi lives at an elite Calabasa, California neighborhood and attends Buckley School, a private school in Sherman Oaks, California.
