Numerous videos have emerged showing American-made military vehicles and equipment used by the Taliban in the newly-captured southwestern Afghan province of Nimroz as the militant group ramps up offensives to seize further territory across the conflict-ridden country.
Video footage shared on Twitter and other social media networks on Friday displayed the Taliban militants making victory laps in US-made Humvees after seizing the city of Zaranj in Nimroz Province, the first regional capital to fall to the group in months-long clashes with the Afghan government forces.
#BREAKING: Using US armored Humvees, Taliban have captured Zaranj, provincial capital of Nimroz province and Shabarghan, the provincial capital of Jowzjan.#Afghanistan #Taliban #Somalia pic.twitter.com/3RPD4jDMe8
— Axmed Ibrahim Al-Ghaazi (@Alghaazi114) August 6, 2021
Multiple videos circulating online also showed the aftermath of the assault on the southwestern Afghan province, including Humvees flying the Taliban’s flag and the militants in possession of US weaponry.
Taliban insurgents inside Nimruz Police Headquarters. They've seized many Ranger trucks and Humvees. pic.twitter.com/bmXwjuOZ3Y
— Pedro 47 (@CombatJourno) August 6, 2021
In a post on Twitter, a user employed upper-case letters to blast Taliban riding in US-manufactured Humvees in Zaranj, saying, “THE TALIBAN WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE AMERICAN TAXPAYER FOR THEIR RECENT LARGE DONATION OF HUMVEE VEHICLES.”
Other footage showed a deserted airfield in Zaranj, where American forces once had a presence, apparently abandoned by the Afghan government troops during the Taliban invasion.
Zaranj Update:
— Pedro 47 (@CombatJourno) August 6, 2021
Provincial govt building is seized by Taliban. Police HQ & Zaranj prison are also evacuated & at the hands of Taliban. Many Humvees belonging to the local police are seized by the Taliban.
Pics: Taliban at the gate of govt compound & in custody of humvees. pic.twitter.com/F99M1f36uU
The Afghan videos shared on twitter were reminiscent of past memories relating to the members of the Daesh terrorist group that used American-made military equipment and weaponry in Iraq to perpetrate their barbaric crimes against Iraqi civilians.
Various reports indicated that the US-led coalition forces assisted the terrorist outfit in their brutal campaign and provided Daesh with safe havens and airdropped weapons to the terrorists.
Violence has been surging across Afghanistan amid the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces from the country. The 2001 invasion of Afghanistan ousted the Taliban from power, but it worsened the security situation in the country.
Several provincial capitals have been encircled by the Taliban, and heavy fighting has been going on for days in the capitals of Helmand and Kandahar provinces in the south, and in the city of Herat in the west.
The Taliban militants are believed to be in control of about half of Afghanistan’s roughly 400 districts.
The United Nations (UN) warned this week about the safety of tens of thousands of people trapped in the strategic city of Lashkar Gah — the capital of southern Helmand Province — as the Taliban intensified clashes with Afghan military forces to take control, there.
The government has pledged to defend strategic centers after losing many rural districts to the Taliban in recent months.