US demilitarised aircraft, vehicles, defence systems before leaving Kabul

Washington: The United States military disabled all their aircraft, armoured vehicles and defence systems they left at Kabul airport before leaving the country, Agence France-Presse reported.

According to the Central Command head, General Kenneth McKenzie, 73 aircraft at Hamid Karzai International Airport were demilitarised or rendered useless before the evacuation process was wrapped up. No one from now on can operate those, he said.

He said that the Pentagon had left behind almost 70 MRAP armoured tactical vehicles, each could cost 1 million US Dollars, but were disabled. Also, 27 Humvees.

The Pentagon had raised a force of around 6,000 troops at Kabul airport to operate it and conduct the evacuation, which started on August 14. The military also left the C-RAM (counter rocket, artillery, and mortar) system behind. It was used to protect the airport from rocket attacks. It shielded the place from a five-rocket barrage from the Islamic State on Monday.

McKenzie said that the military decided to keep them operational until the very last minute. Breaking down those systems was a time-consuming, complex procedure, which made them demilitarise it never to be used again.