What weapons does the Taliban possess?

Riding around in bullet-proof Humvees, decked out in full military-grade camouflaged gear and toting US-made M4 rifles. 

This is the face of the new Taliban, far removed from the Taliban fighters of the 90s in their traditional garb and turbans. 

The Made-in-USA style of this current iteration of the Taliban is a consequence of a sudden US-pullout, which left behind some $18 billion worth of expenditure on "equipment and transportation" the United States disbursed to the Afghan military. 

This was part of the US's $83 billion project to strengthen the Afghan military, according to the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). 

As pictures emerge of the heavily-armed Taliban, it is eerily reminiscent of the ISIS in Syria, which too benefited from the numerous modern military technology left behind by the US.

Up in the air

Before being captured by the Taliban, the Afghan air force had more than 40 operational US-made MD-530 helicopters.

According to various media reports, this was in addition to more than 4-30 UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters and 23 A-29 Super Tucano attack planes, some of which had the capability to drop laser-guided bombs.

Open source analysts Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans, after analysing video footages, said the "Taliban Air Force" even had unmanned aerial vehicles, known as drones, made by Boeing. 

But these estimates were only from what the US had left behind. 

Some of it may have made its way out of the country and gone into the arms of anti-Taliban forces, which have begun congregating in Panjshir Valley.

On Monday, Uzbekistan claimed that "around 22 planes and 24 helicopters from Afghanistan had been forced to land after entering Uzbek airspace". 

One US official told media that 40-50 aircrafts had been flown into the neighbouring country.
This, according to analysts, would represent a quarter of all of Afghan's airforce.

According to the US Government Accountability Office, between 2003 and 2016 the US provided Afghan forces with 208 aircraft.

Among these are also scout attack helicopters, light attack aircraft and military transport planes. 
Not all of these were left behind.

During the onslaught by Taliban forces, many Afghan pilots used some of the planes to escape. 
Apart from the aircrafts left by the US, the Afghan air force also had a number of ageing Russian aircrafts. 

On the ground reality 

In the most recent quarter, SIGAR reported that the United States had provided the Afghan National Army with more than $212 million in "major equipment items", including 174 M1151 HMMWVs, known as Humvees. 

This was in addition to equipment supplied by other nations. 

A US official told Reuters that while it was hard to pinpoint exactly how many weapons the Taliban had, a current intelligence assessment puts the number at more than 2,000 armoured vehicles.

In June, Forbes reported that the Taliban had captured 700 trucks and Humvees from the Afghan security forces as well as dozens of armoured vehicles and artillery systems.

Alongside this, the Taliban may also have control of M1117 Guardians, MaxxPro MRAPs, Oshkosh ATVs and other military vehicles. 

Moreover, they have access to 11 well-planned military bases equipped with the latest weapons and gadgets. 

At a news briefing, Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, said the United States did not "have a complete picture" of how many weapons had been lost but that "certainly a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban."

Gunning for power

According to a report from the Government Accountability Office reviewed by The Hill, the Taliban may have access to some 600,000 weapons.

Since 2003, the US has provided Afghan forces with these infantry weapons, including M16 assault rifles, 162,000 pieces of communication equipment, and 16,000 night-vision goggle devices.

There are also artillery pieces, such as howitzers, which could give the Taliban an edge over any groups that try to foster resistance.
There have also been video footage of Taliban fighters trading AK-47s for US-made rifles such as M16s.

Furthermore, body armour suits and shoulder-mounted grenade launchers are also said to be present among the loot recovered by the Taliban.

The data war

A concerning development has been that of the Taliban getting their hands on devices known as HIIDE, or Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment. 

This presents a new worry, as these devices contained sensitive data, including identifying biometric data such as iris scans and fingerprints, as well as biographical information.

The devices can also be used to access large centralised databases, which contains information on the Afghan population. 

The HIIDE devices have been a key feature of the US military's so-called war on terror. According to one investigative reports, the Pentagon had a goal of gathering biometric data on 80% of the Afghan population.