US Representatives demand report on equipment left in Afghanistan

Citing concerns over security, US Congress members called for the overdue Department of Defence report on US equipment left behind in Afghanistan on Friday.

US Congress members in a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for an overdue report on US equipment and property removed, left behind or destroyed in Afghanistan with the departure of the US soldiers from Afghanistan in mid-August of last year, according to Tolo News.

In a letter sent to the Department of Defense, 28 US representatives criticized the DOD over the delay in sending the report to Congress. It was scheduled for December 29, 2021.

"It is with the gravest concern that even after a three-month window to produce the required information, the DOD still has not given Congress an accurate accounting of United States equipment still in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan where terrorist groups are reconstituting," the members stated in their letter.

Earlier, the representatives said lack of information about the US military equipment makes it difficult for them to calculate the US's investment and expenditure in Afghanistan. "This lack of information prevents Congress from being able to accurately and effectively conduct oversight over the tens of billions of dollars of equipment invested in Afghanistan over the past 20 years and creates vulnerabilities in our national security," the letter reads.

The letter from the US Congress comes at a time when Washington is facing critics for the way it handled the war in Afghanistan which paved the way for the takeover of the Taliban in Kabul last August.

The representatives also criticized the Biden Administration for the delay, which, they noted, was paid for by US taxpayers, according to Tolo News.

( With inputs from ANI )

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