Taliban seizes Mi-35 attack helicopter gifted by India to Afghan forces after they capture the Kunduz airport and local army headquarters
India had gifted four Mi-35 attack helicopters, purchased from Belarus, to Afghanistan in 2019 as a part of its initiative to help augment the latter’s combat capability
Amidst the
escalating Talibani offensive in Afghanistan, a Mi-35 attack helicopter gifted by India to the Afghan forces has been captured by the Talibani terrorists. The Russian-designed Mi-35 Hind attack gunship was seized by the Taliban after it seized control of Kunduz airport in northern Afghanistan from Afghan forces.
Videos and photographs have emerged from the captured airport showing Taliban fighters guarding the gunship. However, the rotor blades and vital components of the engines of the helicopter appear to be missing. A closer examination of the video and the photo shows that the rotor blades were kept on the ground, below the helicopter.
According to Defence analyst Joseph Dempsey, on July 14, the satellite image showed a Mi-35 attack helicopter parked at the Kunduz hangar with its rotor blades intact, but the image that was clicked yesterday, i.e August 10, showed the helicopter without its rotor blades. Therefore, it is being speculated that the Afghan forces removed the parts from the helicopter anticipating defeat to the Taliban forces.
It is also being speculated that besides removing its rotor blades, the Afghan air force personnel also must have incapacitated the helicopter by denuding it of its combat capabilities and engine. However, it cannot be independently verified. The image of Talibani terrorists standing beside the helicopter also shows disassembled rotor blades kept in its vicinity. According to Indian defence expert
Manu Pubby, it is possible that Afghan Air Force was using the airframe to scavenge parts to repair other helicopters.