With the capture of Kunduz airbase, the Taliban fighters have got their hands on an Mi-24 attack helicopter, which was gifted by India to Afghanistan Air Force in 2019 to bolster Kabul’s counter-terror operations.
Pictures have emerged of Taliban fighters standing next to the captured attack chopper. However, the rotor blades and engine of the chopper has been removed, making it not capable of flying. It is believed that the Afghan Air Force left the chopper deliberately in this condition so that the Taliban fighters cannot use it.
In 2019, two Mi-24 V attack helicopters were handed over to Afghan Air Force as replacement of the four helicopters previously gifted to Afghanistan in 2015 by New Delhi. Mi-24 helicopters were given under a deal between Afghanistan and Belarus, but financed by India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his visit to Kabul in December 2016, had handed over four Mi-35 attack helicopters to Afghan Air Force. Three Cheetah light helicopters were also given by India to Afghan forces. Indian military provides assistance to Afghan National Defence and Security forces by training their soldiers and pilots as well. Afghan Air Force was using these attack helicopters in combat operations and were learnt to be quite satisfied with the performance of choppers as they were giving them an edge on ground operations. But, a few months back, they had raised the issue of spare parts and maintenance for these helicopters.
Besides the choppers gifted by India, Afghan Air Force operates a number of US-made aircraft like UH-60 Black Hawk and MD500 Defender helicopters along with fixed-wing counter-insurgency specialist aircraft A-29 Super Tucano.
Afghan military has been fighting against the Taliban for long, but the conflict escalated after May, when the US-led military coalition began the final stage of a withdrawal from the war-torn Afghanistan.
Amid the ongoing violence in Afghanistan, a three-day conference is underway in Doha to discuss peace talks in Afghanistan. The participants at the high-level talks include representatives from UN, Qatar, the US, the UK, the EU, China, Uzbekistan and Pakistan. It is believed that Afghan government has offered the Taliban a power-sharing deal in return for peace in the war-torn nation. The US intelligence now assesses that the Taliban could isolate Afghanistan's capital Kabul in 30 days and potentially take it over in 90 days.
India has already closed its Consulates in Herat and Kandahar and a special flight was arranged to evacuate 50 Indian nationals and the staff of the Indian Consulate in Mazar-i-Sharif. Though, it is believed that Afghan government is seeking air support from India, the South Block has adopted a 'wait and watch' policy and has not taken any decision on it. Indian establishment has always been against sending troops to Afghanistan as India does not share direct border with that country.
