Ailan Evans
A video posted on Twitter shows Taliban fighters wearing stolen U.S. military gear walking around a hangar at the now-abandoned Kabul airport.
The video, recorded Monday by Los Angeles Times correspondent Nabih Bulos, shows several members of the Taliban entering a hangar formerly controlled by the U.S. examining helicopters that were left behind after the Aug. 30 withdrawal.
The Taliban fighters are armed and appear to be equipped in U.S. military gear, including helmets and ballistic vests.
Several gunshots can be heard in the background as the fighters walk around the airport.
The helicopters shown in the video are Chinooks, according to the Times.
The U.S. allowed roughly $85 billion dollars worth of military equipment, including firearms, airplanes, helicopters, and artillery, to fall into Taliban hands. The Department of Defense claimed it had demilitarized and rendered useless the equipment before U.S. forces completed their withdrawal.
The final U.S. flight from Afghanistan left Kabul Airport at around 3:29 p.m., marking the end of American troop presence in the country. Several hundred Americans still remain stranded in the country.
President Joe Biden had vowed to get every American out before the withdrawal deadline of Aug. 31. “Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended,” Biden said in a statement announcing the end of the withdrawal.
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