MOSCOW. Sept 17 (Interfax) - The weapons left behind after the hasty withdrawal by the United States and its allies from Afghanistan became the only acquisition of the Taliban (banned in Russia) from the 20 years of the Western coalition's presence in that country, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"When the Western community left, they left behind a whole arsenal of modern weapons, military hardware and munitions. As for weapons, it's probably the only thing the Taliban obtained after the 20 years of the Western coalition's presence in Afghanistan. By the way, there is nothing good about that," he said at the joint summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
These organizations' member countries "have similar approaches to reacting to threats coming from the territory of Afghanistan now that the Americans have hastily left it, if not to say fled, along with their allies in NATO," Putin said.
"They all left behind an opened Pandora's box, full of problems associated with terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime and, unfortunately, religious extremism. A colleague from Pakistan has just recalled the terrorist attack at the [Kabul] airport," the Russian president said.