What was claimed
The video shows US military equipment left to the Taliban when it withdrew from Afghanistan.
Our verdict
False. The footage is actually of a US military depot in California.
Video shows US military depot, not tanks left in Afghanistan
20 September 2024
A video is being shared on social media with the suggestion it shows military equipment left by US forces in Afghanistan. But it actually shows a US military depot in California.
The video shows hundreds of tanks and other military vehicles lined up in rows in a desert-like landscape. It has been shared with the caption: “The US pulled out of Afghanistan and left all this stuff there. Now imagine if the US would have given it to Ukraine and not the Taliban. By the way, did Zelensky ask the Taliban for the stuff already?”
US forces did reportedly leave some military equipment behind after they withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021—including 73 aircraft, nearly 100 vehicles and other equipment—but this is not what the footage shows.
Full Fact has identified the location of the clip as the Sierra Army Depot (SIAD) in California, which is described on its website as “36,000 acres of high desert terrain” where military vehicles and equipment are stored and regenerated.
We’ve matched the mountains visible in the background of the social media clip with those seen in verified photos and footage, as well as Google Earth images, of the depot. A water tower seen in the distance in some frames of the clip corresponds with the position of a water tower near the depot.
Moreover, there are many images showing military vehicles lined up at SIAD resembling the social media clip.
We’ve contacted the Sierra Army Depot for comment, and will update this article if we receive a response. We also contacted the US Department of Defense, who declined to comment.
The US exited Afghanistan in August 2021 after 20 years in the country, with the hardline fundamentalist Taliban group taking power.
Misleading images and videos are a common form of misinformation we see online and have written about many times before, including many examples that appeared after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Our guides offer tips on how to spot and verify misleading images and videos yourself.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because the video shows a US military depot in California, not Afghanistan.