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Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's reply to a media question in connection with recent reports in the Pakistani media on terrorists using American weapons abandoned in Afghanistan

24 April 2023 18:59
779-24-04-2023

Question: Recent reports in the Pakistani media say that Pakistani Taliban militants are fighting regular troops with modern weapons abandoned by the Americans after their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Do you have any information on this? How could this affect the situation in the region, in your opinion?

Maria Zakharova: We keep saying that the failed 20-year-long military campaign by the US and NATO in Afghanistan is still adversely affecting both Afghanistan and the entire region around it. It seems like the Americans deliberately left these weapons there, and now they are destabilising the situation because terrorists may get hold of them. We will not be surprised if these weapons soon surface in disputed areas of the region and other places.

Obviously, the West, which pursues a policy of double standards that this situation clearly illustrates, wants to use the resources of terrorist groups in the region to further degrade the state of affairs in its selfish interests.

The current security crisis in Afghanistan and Pakistan is a clear example of the unscrupulous behaviour of the West, notably, the NATO coalition, in South Asia. Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif admitted that Pakistani Taliban militants are using modern weapons left by the Americans when they fled from Afghanistan in 2021. As a result, terrorists are using much more advanced weapons than the Pakistani regular security forces.

This statement by the Pakistani Minister was not a revelation for us. It explains why the Pakistani Taliban movement (TTP) has become markedly more active in the country. Since November 2022, this terrorist organisation has staged over 100 attacks, responsibility for which also rests with the US. Clearly, the region continues to be affected by the consequences of NATO's presence.