We Disabled All Abandoned Aircraft, Weapons In Kabul: Pentagon

The Pentagon has insisted it is not worried about the Taliban seizing abandoned helicopters and other war equipment in Afghanistan following the evacuation of US troops, Ross McGuinness reported for Yahoo News UK.

Photo Insert: A Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft in Afghanistan

US officials have moved to allay fears the helicopters could be used by the Taliban, insisting they have been disabled. US troops left behind 73 aircraft and 100 land vehicles.

“They can’t fly them,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN. "We made sure to demilitarize, to make unusable, all the gear that is at the airport. All the aircraft, all the ground vehicles. The only thing we left operable are a couple of fire trucks and some forklifts so that the airport itself can remain more operational going forward.”

He added: "So, I think we're not overly concerned about these images of them walking around. We did everything we could to make sure that equipment couldn't be used by them going forward.”

Taliban leaders said on Wednesday they intend to restore damage done to Kabul airport by western forces Senior Taliban leader Anas Haqqani told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV that the facility's operations would also resume.

The US and its allies left behind aircraft and military equipment during their evacuation but rendered much of it inoperable to prevent others from using the gear.

The Turkish government has also said that runways, towers, and terminals, including those in the civilian side of the airport, were damaged and that these needed to be repaired.

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