Three years after overrunning Afghanistan, Taliban militants who now control the impoverished Central Asian country are showing off their military hardware, including a number of apparently flightworthy rotorcraft.
During a 14 August parade at Bagram Airfield near the capital Kabul, at least four types of military helicopters overflew a procession of armoured vehicles to mark the anniversary of the fundamentalist group’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
The equipment was captured from the now defunct Afghan National Army and air force, which collapsed shortly after the withdrawal of American military forces that same year.
“The third anniversary of Afghanistan’s victory and liberation from US occupation was marked with a large military parade in Bagram,” the Taliban-controlled ministry of national defence said on social media site X on 14 August.
Included among the aircraft were what appear to be three Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawks and six MD Helicopters MD530F light-attack helicopters, all painted in desert tan.
Video of the parade posted to social media also shows two Soviet-origin Mil Mi-24 Hind attack helicopters flying in formation over the parade, along with at least seven Mi-17 utility helicopters.
Imagery of the event was posted to X and official Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan government websites. The defence ministry confirmed that “infantry, cavalry, air force and other units” were present.
The American-made aircraft were provided to the former government of Afghanistan by the Pentagon as part of the USA’s two-decade-long campaign that ousted the Taliban from power after the 11 September, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC.
Despite 20 years of training and billions of dollars in funding, the US-backed replacement government and its military collapsed when Washington withdrew its forces from Afghanistan in 2021.
The much-maligned retreat culminated with a chaotic evacuation from Kabul International airport that saw Afghan civilians clinging to the landing gears of departing cargo transports, in a desperate bid to escape the Taliban takeover.
