Thread by @jseldin

NEW: US @DeptofDefense confirms an estimated $7.12 billion worth of military equipment provided to the Afghan security forces prior to their collapse "remains in Afghanistan in varying states of repair"

Total of $18.6 billion had been provided to Afghan forces from 2005-2021

"It is important to remember that the $7.12 billion figure cited in the Department’s recent report to Congress corresponds to ANDSF equipment & not US military equipment used by our forces" per @DeptofDefense spox Army Major Rob Lodewick in statement

"Nearly all equipment used by US military forces in #Afghanistan was either retrograded or destroyed prior to our withdrawal" per @DeptofDefense's Maj. Lodewick in statement

NEW: A US defense official tells @VOANews US forces left only a small amount of military equipment behind in #Afghanistan - worth abt $150.9 million - all of which was demilitarized or destroyed

As for the $7.12 billion worth of equipment the US provided #Afghan security forces, which is now in the hands of the #Taliban, "It's not state-of the-art stuff" a defense official tells @VOANews

"Everything that we provided to the #Afghan forces was not on the same level as ours or those of our allies" per the US official "It was designed to fight low tech"

As for the higher end equipment provided to the #ANDSF, now in #Taliban hands, "the aircraft, the UAS, the precision munitions for the aircraft…that's very dependent on maintenance" & "suffered very poor readiness rates" even w/the US there helping, per the defense official

Much of the $7.12 billion in US-provided military equipment provided to #Afghan forces and now in #Taliban hands - "A lot of this stuff is likely to quickly become non-operational" per the defense official

Any of the equipment in #Afghanistan reaching #alQaida or #ISIS-#Khorasan?

"We continue to monitor for any indications of that happening" the US defense official says

Details on the numbers regarding US provided military equipment in #Afghanistan still in the report to Congress, as first reported by @CNN
cnn.com/2022/04/27/pol…