US weapons flood Pakistan's black market, fueling insurgency crisis

American military equipment once meant to aid Afghan forces is now surfacing in Pakistan’s black markets and insurgent hands, worsening an already volatile security crisis.

A US-made M4A1 rifle, originally shipped to Afghanistan in 2018, was recently recovered after a deadly militant train hijacking in Pakistan. The rifle, marked with serial number W1004340, is part of the billions in arms the US left behind during its 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

These weapons are now fueling a surge in violence by jihadists and separatist groups across Pakistan. Militants armed with American rifles, machine guns, and night-vision equipment have launched increasingly deadly attacks. “They have the latest American-made weapons,” said Ahmad Hussain, a special forces officer wounded in an ambush. “They could see us, but we couldn’t see them.” US officials confirmed that dozens of weapons seized by Pakistani forces had been supplied to Afghan troops.

Following a March attack that killed 26, serial numbers from recovered rifles matched US military records. “The presence of US advance weapons … has been an issue of profound concern,” Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said in January. Donald Trump has criticised the abandonment of US gear, saying, “We left billions, tens of billions of dollars’ worth of equipment behind… I think we should get a lot of that equipment back.” 

But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid responded: “They’re now the property of Afghanistan. No one can take them away from us.” Experts warn the unchecked spread of US arms is dragging Pakistan back into a cycle of insurgency. “Pakistan risks falling back into that terrible period between 2009 and 2014,” said analyst Michael Kugelman. Despite security crackdowns, militants continue to access advanced gear, raising fears of more violence ahead. As Hussain put it, “Both are responsible.”

By Naila Huseynova