US destroys airplanes worth $486M, sells scrap metal for $32,000

The US has reportedly destroyed 16 cargo planes worth nearly half a billion dollars that were purchased for the Afghan Air Force, and sold it as scrap metal for 32,000 dollars.

According to ABC News, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is asking the Air Force why the fleet of G222 aircraft were turned into scrap metal this past August.

The aircrafts were left unused for years on the tarmac at Kabul International Airport after it was found that the aircraft were not fit for the dusty conditions of Afghanistan and needed constant maintenance and spare parts to keep them running.

NATO had purchased 20 Italian-made aircrafts for 486 million dollars in 2008 to use them for transportation of cargo and to take care of the transit needs of Afghanistan's new air force.

Out of the 20 airplanes, the remaining four G-222 aircraft are now in storage at the US Air Force base in Ramstein, Germany, awaiting a final decision on their future.