Afghan warlords 'sting' US for missiles

The US has paid over the odds to buy back several Stinger missiles they gave to Afghan warlords years ago.

The Dallas Morning News today said defence officials have bought five of the anti-aircraft missiles for more €167,600 each - four times the US manufacturer’s price.

One official said Washington had made it clear it wants the shoulder-fired Stingers out of Afghanistan because of an increasing number of US planes landing at Kandahar airport.

Between 50 and 100 Stingers are thought to remain in the country, most of them in the southern regions. In the 1980s, the CIA gave up to 500 of the missiles to Afghan mujahedeen fighting the Soviet occupation.

They have been trying to buy them back ever since the Russians retreated in 1989.

‘‘There are still a number of these Stinger weapons out there, and that’s why they are generally not allowing daylight landings at the Kandahar airport,’’ said the official. ‘‘I was told they were buying them and then blowing them up.’’

‘‘I think the price is immaterial because a Stinger can take out a 10 million dollar helicopter with a dozen guys in it, or a passenger plane,’’ said John Pike, head of the Washington think-tank GlobalSecurity. ‘‘It’s not the sort of thing you want to have floating around.’’

The 35-pound Stinger has an infrared eye that can locate an aircraft by the heat it emits. The five ft long missile, which travels at twice the speed of sound, functions at low attitudes - up to 10,000 ft - and has a three-mile range.