Provincial capital in Afghanistan falls to the Taliban
- Thread starter mandrill
- Start date
Biden: “it’s not going to happen. The Taliban won’t take control”.
Also Biden: “Nope. It’s Trumps fault the Taliban took over”.
Also Biden: “Nope. It’s Trumps fault the Taliban took over”.
You are correct those are M4 rifles likely captured from fleeing Afghan Army troops reminds me of the Arvn rifles In south Vietnam Never fired only dropped once. the capture of m4 rifles doesn’t change the picture still only small arms
Certainly wouldn't make a difference when the A-10's vector in.
Would make a shoot-out in a village a little more interesting - and not in a good way.
An ak or akm would do the same thing
taliban are now disarming the population once disarmed any weapon will do
Since they can build IED's, presumably they can also build AK-47's. AK-47's aren't very accurate but they can fire many rounds quickly and are great for close quarter urban combat.
"Is it possible to build your own AK 47?
The NRA’s American Rifleman has an excellent series on how to build an AK-47. Just be warned, building your own AK-47 does require specific tools and experience with those tools. Pursue an AK build at your own risk. Give these articles a read before deciding if you’re going to pursue an AK-47 build kit and piece together your own AK-47."
"Is it possible to build your own AK 47?
The NRA’s American Rifleman has an excellent series on how to build an AK-47. Just be warned, building your own AK-47 does require specific tools and experience with those tools. Pursue an AK build at your own risk. Give these articles a read before deciding if you’re going to pursue an AK-47 build kit and piece together your own AK-47."
Low morale, no support and bad politics: why the Afghan army folded
Increasing inevitability about the Taliban advance made soldiers wonder what they were fighting for
www.ft.com
it is not easy to build an AK, probably much safer, if you live in Afghanistan, to buy second hand or even to get a knock off version from the cottage gunsmith industry in Pakistan (see Khyber Pass copy)
Khyber Pass copy - Wikipedia
also, for some reference, these were the guns readily available in Afghanistan before the collapse of the ANA
Running Guns in Kabul | RECOIL (recoilweb.com)
Khyber Pass copy - Wikipedia
also, for some reference, these were the guns readily available in Afghanistan before the collapse of the ANA
Running Guns in Kabul | RECOIL (recoilweb.com)
TBD. Today's Talib may be next month's insurgent, once the blissful moment of togetherness passes. And few Talis would stoop so low as to take away Uncle Fahim or Cousin Hamid's treasured AK. Family feeling is pretty strong.
THE TALIBAN HAVE SEIZED U.S. MILITARY BIOMETRICS DEVICES
Biometric collection and identification devices were seized last week during the Taliban’s offensive.
August 17 2021, 6:11 p.m.
THE TALIBAN HAVE seized U.S. military biometrics devices that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted coalition forces, current and former military officials have told The Intercept.
The devices, known as HIIDE, for Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, were seized last week during the Taliban’s offensive, according to a Joint Special Operations Command official and three former U.S. military personnel, all of whom worried that sensitive data they contain could be used by the Taliban. HIIDE devices contain identifying biometric data such as iris scans and fingerprints, as well as biographical information, and are used to access large centralized databases. It’s unclear how much of the U.S. military’s biometric database on the Afghan population has been compromised.
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While billed by the U.S. military as a means of tracking terrorists and other insurgents, biometric data on Afghans who assisted the U.S. was also widely collected and used in identification cards, sources said.
“We processed thousands of locals a day, had to ID, sweep for suicide vests, weapons, intel gathering, etc.” a U.S. military contractor explained. “[HIIDE] was used as a biometric ID tool to help ID locals working for the coalition.”
A spokesperson for the Defense Intelligence Agency referred questions to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which did not respond to a request for comment.
An Army Special Operations veteran said it’s possible that the Taliban may need additional tools to process the HIIDE data but expressed concerns that Pakistan would assist with this. “The Taliban doesn’t have the gear to use the data but the ISI do,” the former Special Operations official said, referring to Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence. The ISI has been known to work closely with the Taliban.
The U.S. military has long used HIIDE devices in the global war on terror and used biometrics to help identify Osama bin Laden during the 2011 raid on his Pakistani hideout. According to investigative reporter Annie Jacobsen, the Pentagon had a goal to gather biometric data on 80 percent of the Afghan population to locate terrorists and criminals.
“I don’t think anyone ever thought about data privacy or what to do in the event the [HIIDE] system fell into the wrong hands,” said Welton Chang, chief technology officer for Human Rights First, himself a former Army intelligence officer. “Moving forward, the U.S. military and diplomatic apparatus should think carefully about whether to deploy these systems again in situations as tenuous as Afghanistan.”
The Defense Department has also sought to share the biometrics data collected by HIIDE with other government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security. In 2011, the Government Accountability Office criticized the Pentagon for not doing enough to ensure these other surveillance agencies had easy access to the information, warning that the military “limits its federal partners’ ability to identify potential criminals or terrorists.”
But the U.S. didn’t only collect information about criminals and terrorists; the government appears to also have been collecting biometrics from Afghans assisting diplomatic efforts, in addition to those working with the military. For example, a recent job posting by a State Department contractor sought to recruit a biometric technician with experience using HIIDE and other similar equipment to help vet personnel and enroll local Afghans seeking employment at U.S. embassies and consulates.
The federal government has collected biometric data from Afghans despite knowing the risks entailed by maintaining large databases of personal information, especially given recent cyberattacks on government agencies and private companies. These efforts are continuing to expand.
For example, a February 2020 article published by the Army indicated that the service was modernizing its 20-year-old biometric processing technology and had saved more than 1 million entries in the Pentagon’s Automated Biometrics Identification System, or ABIS, which hosts HIIDE and data collected by other devices as well.
“This updated database will make it more efficient for warfighters to collect, identify and neutralize the enemy,” wrote Col. Senodja Sundiata-Walker, project manager for the Pentagon’s biometrics program.
President Joe Biden’s proposed budget for the Army in fiscal year 2022 seeks more than $11 million to purchase 95 new biometric collection devices expanding upon those used in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Biometric collection and identification devices were seized last week during the Taliban’s offensive.
August 17 2021, 6:11 p.m.
THE TALIBAN HAVE seized U.S. military biometrics devices that could aid in the identification of Afghans who assisted coalition forces, current and former military officials have told The Intercept.
The devices, known as HIIDE, for Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment, were seized last week during the Taliban’s offensive, according to a Joint Special Operations Command official and three former U.S. military personnel, all of whom worried that sensitive data they contain could be used by the Taliban. HIIDE devices contain identifying biometric data such as iris scans and fingerprints, as well as biographical information, and are used to access large centralized databases. It’s unclear how much of the U.S. military’s biometric database on the Afghan population has been compromised.
Join Our Newsletter
Original reporting. Fearless journalism. Delivered to you.
I’m in
While billed by the U.S. military as a means of tracking terrorists and other insurgents, biometric data on Afghans who assisted the U.S. was also widely collected and used in identification cards, sources said.
“We processed thousands of locals a day, had to ID, sweep for suicide vests, weapons, intel gathering, etc.” a U.S. military contractor explained. “[HIIDE] was used as a biometric ID tool to help ID locals working for the coalition.”
A spokesperson for the Defense Intelligence Agency referred questions to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, which did not respond to a request for comment.
An Army Special Operations veteran said it’s possible that the Taliban may need additional tools to process the HIIDE data but expressed concerns that Pakistan would assist with this. “The Taliban doesn’t have the gear to use the data but the ISI do,” the former Special Operations official said, referring to Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence. The ISI has been known to work closely with the Taliban.
The U.S. military has long used HIIDE devices in the global war on terror and used biometrics to help identify Osama bin Laden during the 2011 raid on his Pakistani hideout. According to investigative reporter Annie Jacobsen, the Pentagon had a goal to gather biometric data on 80 percent of the Afghan population to locate terrorists and criminals.
“I don’t think anyone ever thought about data privacy or what to do in the event the [HIIDE] system fell into the wrong hands,” said Welton Chang, chief technology officer for Human Rights First, himself a former Army intelligence officer. “Moving forward, the U.S. military and diplomatic apparatus should think carefully about whether to deploy these systems again in situations as tenuous as Afghanistan.”
The Defense Department has also sought to share the biometrics data collected by HIIDE with other government agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security. In 2011, the Government Accountability Office criticized the Pentagon for not doing enough to ensure these other surveillance agencies had easy access to the information, warning that the military “limits its federal partners’ ability to identify potential criminals or terrorists.”
But the U.S. didn’t only collect information about criminals and terrorists; the government appears to also have been collecting biometrics from Afghans assisting diplomatic efforts, in addition to those working with the military. For example, a recent job posting by a State Department contractor sought to recruit a biometric technician with experience using HIIDE and other similar equipment to help vet personnel and enroll local Afghans seeking employment at U.S. embassies and consulates.
The federal government has collected biometric data from Afghans despite knowing the risks entailed by maintaining large databases of personal information, especially given recent cyberattacks on government agencies and private companies. These efforts are continuing to expand.
For example, a February 2020 article published by the Army indicated that the service was modernizing its 20-year-old biometric processing technology and had saved more than 1 million entries in the Pentagon’s Automated Biometrics Identification System, or ABIS, which hosts HIIDE and data collected by other devices as well.
“This updated database will make it more efficient for warfighters to collect, identify and neutralize the enemy,” wrote Col. Senodja Sundiata-Walker, project manager for the Pentagon’s biometrics program.
President Joe Biden’s proposed budget for the Army in fiscal year 2022 seeks more than $11 million to purchase 95 new biometric collection devices expanding upon those used in Afghanistan and Iraq.
You seriously believe that in this case? I thought you were a pretty smart guy, I guess I was wrong. The intelligence agencies of the US do not make a mistake like this. I is all on the pos- piece of shit guy, Hi is already guilty of murder and treason for what he did in the US, now he maybe responsible for genocide in Afghanistan. As he said, it was his decision alone, I am sure he was told what would happen, Maybe, the latest laptop of Hunter's that was stolen by his Russian drug dealers sold it to the Taliban, who are holding it over his head.
Read any history of the War in VN. It's full of US intelligence failures. They were taken completely off guard by Tet.
Oh and while we're at it, what about that little "weapons of mass destruction" goof that US intelligence made in Iraq.
If you want to argue a point, do some reading and present a plausible argument.
Relative of DW journalist killed by the Taliban | DW | 19.08.2021
Journalists and their families are in grave danger in Afghanistan. The Taliban have no compunction about carrying out targeted killings as the case of a DW journalist shows.
www.dw.com
CNN reporter in Afghanistan: ‘No way’ civilians can get past Taliban
“It’s very dicey, it’s very dangerous and it’s completely unpredictable”
thehill.com
Taliban: "Why do you need to get into the airport?"CNN reporter in Afghanistan: ‘No way’ civilians can get past Taliban
“It’s very dicey, it’s very dangerous and it’s completely unpredictable”
Civilian: "I worked for the Americans and they are flying me out to USA. See, here are my documents"
Apparently, the Afghan diaspora are really happy the Taliban won and are booking flights back to Afghanistan (sarcasm).
Taliban takeover: Afghan diaspora stage protests world over (asianetnews.com)
Taliban takeover: Afghan diaspora stage protests world over (asianetnews.com)
