Taliban used military vehicles supplied to former Afghan security forces by US in recent Iran skirmish: report

Border and water disputes led to skirmishes between Taliban and Iranian border personnel. A Taliban military commander had reportedly threatened to wipe Iran off the map.

The Department of Defense’s Afghanistan spokesperson, Army Lt. Col. Rob Lodewick, confirmed to Fox News Digital that the vehicles were among "a small number of the more than 32,000 tactical vehicles procured for the [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] over the course of 16 years via the Afghan Security Forces Fund." Lodewick explained the "equipment likely remains in a poor state of readiness" due to "extensive cannibalization and overly-strained maintenance efforts." Beth Bailey reports on Afghanistan, the Middle East, Asia, and Central America for Fox News Digital. She has contributed to the Washington Examiner and the Detroit News. She was formerly a civilian intelligence analyst with the Department of the Army, and co-hosts The Afghanistan Project Podcast.

Leslie Merriman, who runs a nonprofit organization inside Afghanistan, told Fox News Digital that her sources indicated the Taliban sent as many as 20,000 fighters and 2,000 suicide bombers to the Iranian border at the end of May.