America’s lost weapons are stopping it mining minerals in Pakistan

The US left mountains of high-tech weaponry behind when it fled Afghanistan in defeat in 2021 – now, those weapons have flooded neighbouring Pakistan. And the resulting instability might be stopping the US mining the very rare Earth resources it craves.

The US has its sights on vast copper mines just ten miles inside Pakistan. CNN reported that China is already accessing the nearby Muhammad Khel Copper Mine in northern Waziristan.

For a sense of the scale of that mine, watch this:

But nearby, in south Waziristan:

lies another copper mine that Pakistan says can yield almost ten times as much, equivalent to a fifth of the copper America uses every year.

CNN said:

The prospect is so appealing to a Washington administration also hungry for resources that it has put up more than a billion dollars to get things moving.

So what is stopping them? In short, the imperial blowback of vast amounts of lost US military gear.

Billions in lost US arms

The US and her allies cut and run from Afghanistan after two decades of occupation in 2021. Today the Taliban rule the country once again. But that US chaotic exit mean up to $7bn worth of weapons and equipment were simply left behind.

Remarkable footage emerged back then of US troops trying to destroy – or ‘deny’ –  military gear ahead of the US collapse:

But later Taliban footage made clear that weaponry, vehicles, and even helicopters were left behind:

The Foundation for Economic Education broke down some of the numbers involved. They said the giant arsenal included:

includes up to 22,174 Humvee vehicles, nearly 1,000 armored vehicles, 64,363 machine guns, and 42,000 pick-up trucks and SUVs.

There were mind boggling amounts of smalls arms – and even artillery:

the list of allegedly abandoned weaponry includes up to 358,530 assault rifles, 126,295 pistols, and nearly 200 artillery units.

Since the US was forced out the abandoned arms have been sold on – potentially fueling other conflicts.

In April 2025, the BBC was told:

Half a million weapons obtained by the Taliban in Afghanistan have been lost, sold or smuggled to militant groups

A UN report also warned that group including Al Qaeda:

were accessing Taliban-captured weapons or buying them on the black market.

But what are the implication in Waziristan with its rich resources?

Blowback again

As well as copper, CNN reported there were other minerals and metal in Waziristan which the US craves:

Pakistan says there is much more wealth beneath its soil –– an estimated $8 trillion in copper, lithium, cobalt, gold, antimony and other critical minerals.

This mineral reality has:

oiled an unlikely friendship with US President Donald Trump, who has put mineral acquisition at the heart of US foreign policy.

But CNN reporters who went to the region say they were shown:

hundreds of US-made rifles, machine guns and sniper rifles –– all leftovers from Washington’s war next door, and all seized from a new breed of jihadists and insurgents.

In fact, the reporters claimed, following a recent attack on a Pakistani military college 50 miles from the Muhammad Khel Copper Mine:

a colonel laid out a blood-soaked bandana and three M-16 rifles recovered from the militants. Written on the bandana, in Urdu and English, were slogans indicating the wearer’s readiness for martyrdom.

And:

stamped on the rifles were the words: “Property of US Govt. Manufactured in Columbia, South Carolina.”

In Peshawar, CNN recorded images of dozens of American weapons captured after raids:

And US weaponry has also been found in Balochistan in the hands of local insurgents.  Defence analyst Muhammad Mubasher told the outlet American arms were now involved “in almost every encounter that happens”.

Following a recent suicide attack in Balochistan which killed 33 people provincial minister Sarfaraz Bugti said there was:

 no doubt that most of the weapons used were US made that originated from Afghanistan.

Past US imperial adventures seem to be hindering new ones…

Trump’s Pakistan charm offensive

Despite the instability in the region – instability fueled by US blowback- President Donald Trump and Pakistani leaders have been getting cozy over potential mineral deals.

CNN reported that

Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir took an unusual prop on their first joint visit to the White House in September [2025] –– a chest containing a trove of rare earths they said had been dug from Pakistan’s soil.

Adding:

Trump was charmed. The following month he praised Munir in public –– naming him: “My favorite field marshal.”

Pakistani politicians have been schmoozing ever since: they vocally supported Trump’s failed Nobel Peace Prize bid in July 2025, calling him a great peacemaker after recent India-Pakistan clashes. And their first shipment of rare earth minerals arrived in the US just a month after their September 2025 meeting.

Trump wants Pakistani resources. And the Pakistani government seem more than willing to give them up. The problem is that the war in Afghanistan has flooded the region with high tech US-made arms and equipment, fueling a new set of insurgencies. Trump proclaims himself a  ‘Peace President’, but he clearly isn’t getting off the imperialist carousel quite yet.

Featured image via the Canary