Use of US-made weapons in terrorism pointed out

RAWALPINDI: The security sources have once again come with up evidences of use of US-made weapons by terrorists in recent terrorist activities, particularly in Balochistan.

The security sources said the facts and evidences hint that the Afghan regime was not only arming the TTP terrorists but also providing them with a safe passage to the other terrorist organizations.

The sources said the security forces had recovered M32 Multi Shot Grenade Launcher, M16/A4 Night Thermal Vision and other US-made weapons from terrorists who attacked Pakistan Navy’s Naval Base, PNS Siddique in Turbat on the night between March 25 and 26.

The security forces during joint ensuing operation killed four terrorists belonging to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

Earlier, the security forces also recovered US-made weapons from BLA terrorists who made a foiled attempt to attack the naval base.

Pakistan has witnessed a significant surge in terrorist attacks in recent months resulting in precious loss of lives owing to the targeting of civilians as well as security forces by the militant groups across the country.

However, a worrying development in recent months is the increasing use of foreign weapons, including those left over by the United States in Afghanistan, by terrorist organisations such as TTP, BLA and others, the security sources said.

On January 27 this year, US-made weapons were also recovered from a terrorist named Naik Minallah in North Waziristan.

Security forces had recovered the same kind of weaponry from militants behind a terrorist attack in Sambaza, Zhob, on January 22. Weapons seized from militants at the Pak-Afghan border on January 19 were also foreign-made.

Security forces had recovered AK-47 and M4 Carbine assault rifles along with ammunition from terrorists in Mir Ali on December 29 last year.

The terrorists used night vision goggles and US-made assault rifles during their attack in Dera Ismail Khan’s Daraban area on December 12, last year.

According to EurAsian Times, militants belonging to the proscribed TTP are still using US-made weapons to carry out attacks in Pakistan.

The report is not surprising as the Pentagon has itself confirmed that out of 427,300 weapons that Washington had provided to the Afghan forces, around 300,000 weapons were “left behind” when its forces withdrew from the war-torn country in August 2021, the sources said.

The BLA terrorists also used foreign weapons in attacks on the camps of Frontier Corps in Naushki and Panjgur districts in February 2022.

Terrorists equipped with US-made weapons also attacked two army check posts in Chitral on September 6, 2023.

On December 15, some latest US weapons were used by terrorists in a terror attack in Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The attack led to the death of three police personnel and five terrorists.

On December 13, Customs and security forces recovered the latest US-made weapons hidden in onion sacks.

There has been an increase in terrorist acts in the region in the last two years due to the leftover US-made weapons in Afghanistan.

According to Pentagon, the United States equipped the Afghan defence and security forces with gadgets and weapons worth 18.6 billion dollars from the year 2005 to August, 2021.

“Following withdrawal of US forces, terrorists belonging to the TTP used the same weapons to carry out crossborder terror acts,” the security sources said.