THE chaotic 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan left behind a massive $7.12 billion military arsenal that now fuels a deadly wave of cross-border terrorism directly targeting Pakistan. Official findings from the UNSC, independent investigators and the final December 2025 SIGAR report confirm that the Afghan Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence, along with profiteering commanders, systematically distributed seized NATO weaponry to terror proxies like the TTP and BLA. This staggering leftover stockpile included 167,550 rifles, 41,500 machine guns, 40,000 military vehicles including 12,000 Humvees and 78 aircraft. Consequently, Afghanistan has transformed into a thriving black-market hub where criminal and terrorist networks freely trade military-grade hardware. Armed with sophisticated US M16s, M4 carbines and advanced thermal optics, these militants launch lethal attacks against Pakistani security forces, who by 2025 had already recovered hundreds of these abandoned American firearms from eliminated terrorists.
The influx of abandoned US military hardware has catalyzed a dangerous capability leap for regional terror groups, profoundly destabilizing Pakistan’s counter-terrorism operations. Beyond standard firearms, militants from the TTP and BLA seized approximately 17,500 pieces of helmet-worn night-vision devices (NVDs), surveillance equipment and GPS units. By utilizing these NVDs and advanced thermal optics, terrorists have dramatically upgraded their night-fighting, visibility and targeting precision. This technological shift strips Pakistani security forces of the element of surprise, as well as regularizes high-precision night sniping. Armed with this state-of-the-art gear, these proxy networks operate with a sophistication that rivals conventional armies, allowing them to exploit darkness, coordinate lethal ambushes and minimize their own exposure.
However, this advanced weaponry represents only one facet of a broader, compounding threat. Since 2021, the Afghan Taliban regime has provided these groups with critical logistical support, administrative safe havens, movement passes and protection from arrest. This permissive environment has allowed over 20 international terrorist organizations to regroup and train within Afghanistan. TTP remains the largest entity, commanding an estimated 6,000 to 6,500 fighters and expanding its operations under a web of inter-organizational cooperation alongside Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and the Afghan Taliban. Furthermore, the regime has facilitated the use of quadcopters and drones, allowing militants to execute high-tech aerial surveillance and targeting.
Consequently, Pakistan is paying a devastating price in human lives. Terrorist attacks surged eightfold from 89 in 2021 to 699 in 2025, resulting in 1,378 deaths and 2,672 injuries. The crisis has intensified in 2026, with the toll already reaching 1,327 killed and 2,484 injured. This relentless instability threatens vital regional connectivity projects, from the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to Central Asian trade routes. While Pakistan maintains the absolute will to fight and continuously upgrades its domestic counter-terrorism capabilities, unilateral action is insufficient.
Halting this devastating human toll requires an immediate, united international response based on verifiable actions, shared responsibility and a concerted global effort to curb the flow of leftover weapons and dismantle terrorist sanctuaries. Evidence definitively proves the Afghan Taliban regime actively sponsors cross-border terror proxies, supplying advanced weaponry and critical sanctuaries to destabilize regional peace.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
