Washington - (dpa) - The American news network "CNN" quoted today, Thursday, a report issued by the US Department of Defense "Pentagon", that during its withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, US forces left military equipment worth nearly seven billion dollars.

The report added that this equipment was transferred by the United States to the Afghan government over a period of 16 years, but was left after the United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, and that “this equipment is now in a country controlled by the same enemy that the United States was trying to expel.” Over the past two decades: the Taliban.

The report, submitted to Congress, said the Defense Department had no plans to return to Afghanistan to "recover or destroy the equipment."

The United States provided a total of $18.6 billion in equipment to the Afghan security forces from 2005 to August 2021, and $7.12 billion worth of equipment remained in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal was completed in 2021.

According to the report, this equipment includes aircraft, military vehicles, communications equipment, and others.

The sheer value of the equipment has drawn fierce criticism from lawmakers from both parties.