The Taliban government has renewed its rejection of US President Donald Trump's demands for the return of US-funded equipment and weapons seized by the movement after the previous Afghan government collapsed in August 2021, saying the equipment, estimated to be worth nearly $7 billion, has become the property of the Afghan state.
Equipment Considered Afghan State Assets
Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi said the military equipment had become Afghan state assets and that his government did not intend to make deals involving state property, in an interview with the US network CBS News.
Responding to a question about the equipment being funded by US taxpayers, Balkhi accused the United States of killing people and destroying large parts of Afghanistan during the war, asking whether it should pay for that first.
Trump's Repeated Demands
Trump has repeatedly demanded the equipment's return since returning to the White House. On the eve of his inauguration in January 2025, he linked the continuation of US funds for Afghanistan to its return. In February 2025, he also expressed anger over the Taliban's use of US military vehicles in its parades.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had already announced in March 2025 that the weapons would not be handed over, saying they had been given to the former Afghan government and then became Afghanistan's property after the movement took control of the country. He added that the equipment would be used to defend Afghanistan and posed no threat to any country.
Contacts Over Detainees and Investment
Despite the dispute over the equipment, Washington and the Taliban have continued contacts over detained Americans. In March, the movement released US citizen Dennis Coyle after holding him for more than a year. Washington, however, has kept Afghanistan designated a “state sponsor of wrongful detention” and demanded the release of the other Americans it says are being held there.
In a parallel effort, the Taliban government has expressed interest in attracting US investment in mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade. But a US State Department spokesman said Washington had no plans to work with the Taliban on developing Afghanistan's critical minerals, saying investment would put money in the movement's hands.
The Legacy of the War and US Withdrawal
The statements come ahead of the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, which were followed by a US war in Afghanistan that lasted nearly two decades. Trump's first administration signed the Doha Agreement with the Taliban in 2020, before Joe Biden's administration carried out the final withdrawal in August 2021, as the previous Afghan government collapsed and the Taliban returned to power.
