Terrorists who attacked the Jaffar Express train in Balochistan last month used weapons left behind when United States forces withdrew from Afghanistan, an investigation by The Washington Post revealed on Monday.
The Jaffar Express was attacked on March 11 when Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists ambushed the Peshawar-bound train carrying 440 passengers, opening fire and taking hostages. Consequently, the security forces initiated an operation that lasted two days.
Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said on March 12 that the Jaffar Express clearance operation launched a day after the train’s unprecedented hijacking, was complete. He added that all terrorists, 33 in total, at the site of the attack had been killed.
According to The Post, an M4A1 carbine rifle built by American manufacturer Colt was recovered from the site of the attack. The rifle’s serial number indicated that it was part of billions of dollars worth of weaponry sent to US forces in Afghanistan, who abandoned much of their equipment when withdrawing in 2021.
“Many of the weapons wound up across the border in Pakistan, at arms bazaars and in the hands of insurgents, illustrating how the consequences of America’s failed war continue to reverberate years after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban,” The Washington Post wrote.
The publication wrote that Pakistan is now trying to contain terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where fighters are equipped with American weapons and gear.
US rifles, machine guns and night-vision goggles, originally meant to help stabilise Afghanistan, are now being used by the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other groups to carry out attacks, The Post reported citing weapons traders and government officials.
Ahmad Hussain, 35, a special forces constable who was critically injured in a nighttime attack in KP last year, told The Post, “They have the latest American-made weapons.
“They could see us, but we couldn’t see them,” he added.
The Post added that in May 2024, Pakistani officials gave the paper access to dozens of weapons that they said were seized from captured or dead terrorists.
After months of inquiries, the US Army and the Pentagon confirmed to The Post that 63 of the weapons that were shown to reporters had been provided by the US government to Afghan national forces. Most of the weapons were M16 rifles, alongside several more modern M4 carbines.
