Kabul [Afghanistan]: Pakistan is reportedly buying US military weapons from the Afghan Taliban amid fear that it may fall into the hands of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a new report has revealed.
This comes as talks are taking place between the Imran Khan government and banned outfit over a comprehensive ceasefire.
Since the Taliban took power in Kabul in mid-August, cross-border violence has shot up in Pakistan and so has the major operation against militants in North Waziristan, the last stronghold of the TTP.
Back in August, reports had emerged that the Taliban was supplying a huge quantity of American weapons captured by it from the Afghan Army to Pakistan. The US weapons -- which were seized by the Taliban after American troops withdrawal --are being openly sold in shops by Afghan gun dealers who paid government soldiers and Taliban members for guns and ammunition, The New York Times reported last month.
Under a US training and assistance programme -- that had cost American taxpayers more than USD 83 billion through two decades of war -- the equipment was originally provided to the Afghan security forces, the report had said. After the US troops left Afghanistan, the Taliban amassed a large number of weapons. Pentagon officials earlier had pointed out that advanced weaponry was disabled before troops left, but thousands of weapons were still available for the Taliban, according to the NYT report.