Of the many places around the globe that are currently engulfed in armed conflicts, one that doesn’t receive very much media attention is the ongoing fighting in Kashmir, located between Pakistan and the northeastern reaches of India. Each country holds administrative control of roughly half of the region and the fighting there is frequent.
But it’s getting a bit more attention this week because of an alarming development. American-made rifles and other military equipment have been showing up there. The source of the weapons should be fairly easy to guess. They are some of the equipment that was left behind in Afghanistan during America’s botched withdrawal from the country more than a year ago. And now the Taliban is selling them to foreign fighters. (NBC News)
Weapons left behind by U.S. forces during the withdrawal from Afghanistan are surfacing in another conflict, further arming militants in the disputed South Asian region of Kashmir in what experts say could be just the start of the weapons’ global journey.
Authorities in Indian-controlled Kashmir tell NBC News that militants trying to annex the region for Pakistan are carrying M4s, M16s and other U.S.-made arms and ammunition that have rarely been seen in the 30-year conflict. A major reason, they say, is a regional flood of U.S.-funded weapons that fell into the hands of the Taliban when U.S.-led NATO forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.
Most of the weapons recovered so far, officials say, are from Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) or Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), both Pakistan-based militant groups that the U.S. designates as terrorist organizations.
#AwantiporaEncounterUpdate: #Terrorist Kaiser Koka #neutralised. Identification of 2nd terrorist being ascertained. #Incriminating materials, arms & ammunition including 01 USA made rifle (M-4 Carbine), 01 pistol and other materials have been recovered.@JmuKmrPolice
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— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) July 11, 2022
Just as a reminder, a report issued last year in the wake of the botched withdrawal estimated that more than half a billion dollars worth of weapons were left behind in Afghanistan. (That was just part of the estimated $7 billion in equipment, including ground vehicles and aircraft that were left behind.) The Taliban has been starved for cash since they took over the country, so naturally, they would be interested in selling some of those weapons even if it means fueling the ongoing fighting in neighboring countries.
It’s also worth remembering that there is still a thriving black market for military equipment that operates all around the world. And it’s not nearly as comical as some older Chevy Chase movies would have you believe. (Deal of the Century is still a great film, though, if you’ve never seen it.) When you leave $500 million in military-grade arms lying around, those weapons will eventually turn up all over the world. Some of them are already showing up in the hands of Russians fighting the American-backed Ukrainian forces.
Let’s keep that in mind as we continue to funnel billions of dollars in cash and weapons to Ukraine. There have already been reports of arms being “diverted” from the Ukrainian military, making certain figures inside and outside of Ukraine’s government considerably richer. Where will they turn up? The answer could be literally almost anywhere on the planet. But wherever you see armed conflict breaking out, there will be a demand for weapons. And American weapons are prized more than most others.
So what is the solution to this issue in Kashmir and our weapons being used in that conflict? This is unfortunately one of those situations where no solution can be offered. The cat is already out of the bag and the weapons are being sold. The dispute over the control of Kashmir has been going on at least since the 90s and it’s unlikely to end anytime soon.
