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SIGAR Final Audit: $7.1 Billion in U.S. Gear Now Anchors Taliban Forces

The watchdog’s 137-page assessment says two decades of reconstruction spending failed to create self-sustaining institutions.

Overview

  • The report cites a Defense Department determination that about $7.1 billion in equipment provided to Afghan forces was left after the 2021 collapse and now constitutes the core of Taliban security capabilities.
  • Congress obligated roughly $144.7 billion for reconstruction from 2002 to 2021, with SIGAR concluding that force design choices left Afghan security forces dependent on U.S. support and vulnerable to rapid failure.
  • SIGAR reported it could not inspect equipment or facilities after the Taliban takeover, limiting the ability to verify the condition or disposition of U.S.-funded assets.
  • The United States has disbursed more than $3.83 billion in humanitarian and development assistance since 2021, and SIGAR found UN cash shipments stabilized the economy but also benefited the Taliban.
  • Defense records listed large pre-collapse inventories, including at least 162 aircraft and hundreds of thousands of weapons, and a UN sanctions panel chair warned of regional risks involving the TTP operating from Afghan territory.