US moves to replace the Kalashnikov — the infamous Russian assault rifle commonly used by Afghan security forces — with US-made weaponry.
The US banned the Russian weapon six months ago, replacing it with M4 and M16 rifles, in a bid to shift the Afghan army’s main weaponry from a Russian to an American system.
The Afghan army rarely uses Kalashnikovs in combat with the Taliban militants. Except for a few Russian-made helicopters, the army is fully equipped with US and NATO weapons.
Najib Danish, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Affairs (MoI), said that talks are underway for replacement of Kalashnikov with US-made weaponry.
“The process has begun. Some have been replaced, but we will still need them (Kalashnikovs) until given new guns.” We still use both Russian and US weapons, Danish said.
Since the ousting of the Taliban in 2001, US and other NATO countries have spent tens of billions of dollars rebuilding the Afghan security forces, which stand over 250,000.
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