Shocking footage appears to show the Taliban flying seized US Black Hawk helicopters over Afghanistan.
“Our Air Force!” Talib Times — which claims to be the English-language official account of the Taliban-run Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan — gloated on Monday.
“At this time, the Islamic Emirate’s air force helicopters are flying over Kandahar city and patrolling the city,” the tweet said.
In one viral clip, someone is clearly seen hanging below a chopper as it hovers in the sky. The man was fixing a Taliban flag flying atop a building in Kandahar — using the captured equipment — experts who cited sources within the militant group told the BBC.
The helicopter was seized days before by the Taliban from the Afghanistan Air Force, the outlet reported.
Talib Times also shared another clip that it bragged was the “first flight of black hawk,” after the Islamic militant group was earlier filmed making doomed attempts to take flight in one of the US choppers seized when they took power.
The White House has said it does not yet have a “complete picture” of the military items the Taliban have seized, but has conceded it includes aircraft like Black Hawks that were given to the Afghan National Security Forces.
The Talib Times also shared footage of other military items seemingly seized at Kabul airport after US troops finally left Monday, ending America’s longest war.
“Taliban have seized more Planes, Helicopters, Weapons and American equipment in Kabul Airport,” the Twitter page said alongside the images.
However, the US “demilitarized” at least 73 aircraft to make them useless as they left them behind, Central Command head Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told Agence France-Presse.
“Those aircraft will never fly again … They’ll never be able to be operated by anyone,” he said.
