French troops killed by Taliban

[Posteritatis]

5. It takes very little to keep a low-tech soldier in the field

Afghanistan's also about 30% weaponry by mass and volume at this point, much like other parts of the world with endemic violence like Somalia, Congo, etc.

There's enough stuff in the area from decades of war, and a lot of it is very rugged indeed. They wouldn't need state-level sponsorship to keep putting up at least something of a fight, when simple scrounging, some smuggling from across the borders, theft from coalition or government stockpiles, etc. will do quite a bit. Also, people there are simply used to getting by with very, very little compared to what we'd take for granted; they'd be able to stretch things further.

I'm sure there is some state-level stuff coming in, much like the US arming their predecessors in the eighties, but that'd more likely to be small amounts of high-tech gear instead of food or AK rounds.