The Taliban have significantly enhanced their drone warfare capabilities by acquiring high-tech components through global smuggling networks, enabling them to build precision-guided UAVs with surveillance and strike capabilities an alarming development detailed in a report by the British newspaper Daily Mail published on June 7.
According to the report, the Taliban are now sourcing critical electronic and mechanical components including GPS modules, electric motors, flight control systems, and advanced sensors—from international black markets. These parts, while manufactured for civilian use, are being repurposed by the group to produce increasingly sophisticated unmanned aerial vehicles capable of medium-altitude flight, tactical reconnaissance, and small-scale precision strikes.
The report identifies China, the United Arab Emirates, and several European nations as the primary origin points for the smuggled parts. Once inside Afghanistan, the components are assembled by Taliban engineers and technicians, many of whom have prior experience in military or insurgent groups. Operating through informal and often clandestine channels, these specialists have built a covert drone program that experts say could reshape the regional security landscape.
“Taliban drones are no longer primitive,” the Daily Mail report cautions. “They are now tools of precision warfare with expanding tactical reach.”
The drones’ operational range now extends several kilometers, making them capable of targeting remote military installations and supply convoys. Intelligence-gathering missions can now be conducted with high accuracy, providing the Taliban with a strategic advantage in both surveillance and tactical strikes.
Security analysts cited in the report warn that the proliferation of such technologies among militant actors could have severe implications for regional peace, particularly given Afghanistan’s porous borders and the presence of other armed groups. The introduction of this level of drone warfare into the region may mark a new phase in asymmetric conflict.
Experts are especially alarmed by the synergy between leftover U.S.-origin weapon stockpiles abandoned after the 2021 withdrawal and the Taliban’s new technological edge. This combination, analysts argue, positions the group as a more formidable and unpredictable threat than at any time in recent history.
In light of these findings, international security experts are calling for urgent action to tighten export controls on dual-use technologies, enhance border surveillance, and invest in advanced counter-drone systems. Failure to act, they warn, could allow non-state actors like the Taliban to redefine the battlefield using tools that were once the exclusive domain of state militaries.
The Taliban have not issued any official response to the claims published in the Daily Mail. However, the report adds to mounting global concerns over how fast and effectively militant groups are adapting commercial technologies for warfare, further complicating peace and stability efforts across the region.
