Ever since the Biden administration’s embarrassing, failed, and deadly withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan in 2021, Democrats and their media handlers have long denied claims that hundreds of thousands of American arms were left behind for the Taliban. Now, according to the Washington Free Beacon, that terrorist organization is raking in money in part by selling those abandoned weapons to terrorist organizations across the Middle East.
Last year, the Taliban made over $3.4 billion in revenue, a 14 percent cash boos, as Afghanistan has once again become a safe haven for all manner of terrorists, according to a US government watchdog group.
According to an oversight report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), multiple al-Qaeda affiliates have been supplied with “weapons seized from the former Afghan National Army.
It is believed the US left 78 aircraft, 40,000 military vehicles, including armored personnel carriers, and over 300,000 weapons in Afghanistan during the failed withdrawal that took the lives of 13 American servicemembers in a terrorist bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport.
The report continues that “terrorist groups continued to operate in and from Afghanistan amid ongoing US, UN, and regional concerns that the country remains a terrorist haven.”
There are currently over two dozen terrorist organizations active in Afghanistan, including ISIS-K and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). It is also believed that at least four offshoots of al Qaeda are using the country to organize operations.
“Terrorist groups,” SIGAR reported, “continued to use Afghan soil to train and plan attacks, and a ‘small but steady’ flow of foreign terrorists continued to travel to Afghanistan and join one of over two dozen terror groups based there.”
The report follows action by the Trump administration to terminate nearly all US-funded assistance programs in the country, claiming the Taliban’s unique ability to steal millions in US taxpayer money annually. The Biden administration dropped almost $4 billion into Afghanistan after the US withdrawal, with several million dollars of that amount still flowing into the country through March 31, 2025. During that time, SIGAR found numerous instances of fraud, waste, and mismanagement (DOGE, anyone?) that haunted US aid efforts after the Taliban retook control of the country.
When the Trump administration dissolved the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), it cut off most of the money for Afghanistan.
The administration initially attempted to maintain emergency food assistance programs in Afghanistan. However, the Free Beacon said the State Department froze those funds in April, citing “Taliban interference” in delivering humanitarian aid. At the same time, State cut several other “cash-based assistance” programs, “given concerns about misuse and a lack of appropriate accountability,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Last year, SIGAR found that American aid partners in Afghanistan paid the Taliban at least $10.9 billion in various fees.
The State Department axed all but two of 24 programs inside Afghanistan, saving American taxpayers over $1 billion through the end of 2025, SIGAR reported. The two surviving aid programs support Afghan students studying online or at universities outside the country.
Some axed programs included “fostering integrated youth activity,” while others supported pushing “civic activists, human rights defenders, and journalists.”
The SIGAR report showed that the State Department previously allocated $80 million to Afghan farmers to improve “efficiency ” and strengthen “knowledge of smart cultivation and production practices,” while another $80 million was directed for “equitable access to quality education for boys and girls. ”
Some of the funds directed to Afghanistan were to invest in girls’ education, however, the Taliban remains firm on oppressing females, preventing them from attending school and preventing most women from working in a majority of jobs.
Other funding programs included $62 million to “empower Afghan youth, particularly girls and young women, by equipping them with market-relevant technical and soft skills, and enhancing economic resilience and food security.” Another program was a $14.9 million grant to create “jobs within the carpet-weaving and jewelry industries by providing development assistance to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Afghanistan.”
SIGAR, which has led the US-Afghanistan oversight authority since 2008, will cease operations next year as the administration suspends aid to the country.
