US military equipment left behind in Afghanistan will now benefit Russia, China: Trump
Oct 10, 2021
Washington [US], October 10 : Former US President Donald Trump has said US military equipment left behind in Afghanistan was not disabled and will now benefit other powers, including Russia and China.
"Russia and China already have samples of our great helicopters. We have the Apache helicopters ... and they are now re-engineering the equipment, they are de-engineering. They are taking it apart, they are figuring it out and very soon they'll be building the best stuff for less money," Sputnik quoted Trump as saying at the "Save America" rally in Des Moines on Saturday.
Trump alleged that only three per cent of all people who were taken out of Afghanistan on US evacuation flights were qualified to be taken to the United States.
"They had no idea who was getting on those planes," Trump said.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, US troops destroyed or disabled nearly 100 combat vehicles and dozens of aircraft before leaving Kabul in August.
Trump said that contrary to some claims, the equipment left in Afghanistan was not disabled and "tremendous numbers" of US weaponry and equipment are now being sold on the black market.
In September, Trump told a crowd of supporters in Perry, Georgia that US President Joe Biden's handling of the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan was a major display of incompetence.
