The Taliban have signalled their willingness to start afresh with the US administration of Donald Trump but claimed ownership of the military equipment and vehicles the American and Nato forces left behind.
Abdul Qahar Balkhi, the Taliban’s spokesperson for the foreign ministry, spoke to CBS News on Wednesday and said that the group controlling Afghanistan was ready to establish a new diplomatic chapter on engagement with the US.
"We would like to close the chapter of warfare and open a new chapter," Mr Balkhi.
On being asked if the return of military hardware is completely off the table, the Taliban spokesperson said: "These are the assets of the state of Afghanistan. They will continue to be in the possession of the state of Afghanistan.”
According to the Pentagon, US forces handed over military equipment worth over $7.2bn to the Afghan forces when the Nato-led government evacuated in August 2021.
The equipment includes aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, battle tanks, Humvees, US track, weapons, bulletproof vests, camouflage uniforms, communications equipment and other materials which have not only deteriorated over the last nearly four years but also been dismantled by Taliban fighters.
He also said there was no agreement between the US and Afghanistan regarding these assets.
“People don't make deals on the assets of their states, they make agreements through dialogue and engagement to find spaces and areas of common interest,” Mr Balkhi said.
On the eve of his presidential inauguration last month, Mr Trump pledged at a public rally in Washington to strengthen the US military by getting back billions of dollars worth of equipment left behind in Afghanistan during the fall of Kabul in 2021.
Although it was Mr Trump’s first administration that signed the deal with the Taliban to withdraw Nato forces, the Republican has heavily criticised the way his successor Joe Biden handled the pullout and said the Democrat gave “our military equipment, a big chunk of it, to the enemy”.
“If we’re going to pay billions of dollars a year, tell them we’re not going to give them the money unless they give back our military equipment,” Mr Trump said, referring to humanitarian aid. “So, we will give them a couple of bucks; we want the military equipment back.”
Glimpses of this leftover military hardware are occasionally seen at Taliban events, such as a grand parade held by the Taliban at Bagram airbase in August to mark their three years in power.
The Independent has analysed images from Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Khost and Ghazni which show Humvees, along with other military and heavy vehicles such as rangers and army tracks that were given by the American armed forces to the Afghan National Defence Security Forces and police authorities before the fall of Kabul in August 2021.
The majority of these Humvees are seen in images from the two power centres in Afghanistan – Kabul and Kandahar – with several in the backyard of the Kabul International Airport. Most of the Humvees in Kandahar are also seen at the now-abandoned US military-run airbase near the Spin Boldak road.
