I want peace in Afghanistan. We all do. But I must say that armed Afghan resistance to the Taliban is to be expected, and I can not disagree with it. Who can blame "normal" Afghans-- especially the women-- for fighting against radical misogyny!?
One figure I have read is that the Taliban has between 80 and 90 thousand fighters. How many Afghans there are, who are not armed but sympathetic to the Taliban's extremism, has never been estimated, to my knowledge.
However, the Taliban undoubtedly is severely outnumbered. The UN estimates the July 1, 2021 population of Afghanistan at 39,835,428. The Taliban may have got their hands on billions of dollars worth of arms supplied to the Afghan Army, but that doesn't mean that they are all well-trained to use them, or that the munitions needed to use them will not run out, with no source of resupply.
Although Russia or China could-- can-- supply the Taliban with AK-47 rounds, maybe with RPGs, could they do the same with munitions (or parts) to be used in American Black Hawk helicopters, drones, and other aerial weapons, or American-made artillery? Would they see it in their geostrategic interest to do so?
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