Afghan Taliban will not return leftover arms to US, offers Afghan mineral wealth for investments

​​​​​​​By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - The Afghan Taliban interim administration said it would not return leftover arms to the US because they are now state assets of Afghanistan.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi rejected President Donald Trump’s offer to release frozen Afghan currency assets in exchange for the return of US military hardware that American troops left behind after the withdrawal from Kabul in 2021.

"States don't give away their assets," Balkhi told CBS News, and said they now assets of Afghanistan.

Balkhi, however, said that Kabul is open for business with all countries, including the US, and those countries can invest in the mineral sector in Afghanistan.

The development follows a recent meeting between Trump’s Hostage Affairs Envoy Adam Boehler, who met interim Foreign Minister Maulvi Amir Khan Muttaqi in Afghanistan, marking the first public contact between Washington and Kabul.

Boehler was accompanied by former US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad.

Around $7 billion in Afghan foreign assets were frozen by the former US administration of Joe Biden following the complete withdrawal of US-led foreign forces from the war-torn country.

In January, Trump criticized the Biden administration for leaving the military assets in Afghanistan during the withdrawal and asked the Taliban interim administration to return arms valued at around $7 billion.