The Taliban fired weapons into the air and offered words of reconciliation, as they celebrated defeating the United States and returning to power after two decades of war that devastated Afghanistan.
The Taliban took full control of Hamid Khazai International Airport as the last of 6,000 US troops who oversaw a desperate evacuation effort flew out of Kabul airport on Monday night, ending the war that has diminished the United States’ status as a superpower.
Taliban fighters quickly swept into the airport and fired guns into the sky in jubilation, an astonishing return after US forces invaded in 2001 and toppled the militants for supporting Al Qaeda.
“Congratulations to Afghanistan… this victory belongs to us all,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters hours later from the runway of the airport on Tuesday morning.
Mujahid said the Taliban’s victory was a “lesson for other invaders”.
However the Taliban have repeatedly promised a more tolerant and open brand of rule compared with their first stint in power, and Mujahid said the Taliban’s victory was a “lesson for other invaders”.
However the Taliban have repeatedly promised a more tolerant and open brand of rule compared with their first stint in power, and Mujahid continued that theme.
“We want to have good relations with the US and the world. We welcome good diplomatic relations with them all,” he said.
Many Afghans are terrified of a repeat of the Taliban’s initial rule from 1996-2001, which was infamous for their treatment of girls and women, as well as a brutal justice system.
The withdrawal came just before the end of an August 31 deadline set by President Joe Biden to call time on America’s longest war – one that ultimately claimed the lives of more than 2,400 US service members.
Thirteen US troops were among more than 100 people killed when an IS suicide bomber late last week attacked the perimetre of the airport, where desperate Afghans had massed in the hope of getting on board an evacuation flight.
More than 123,000 people were evacuated from Kabul aboard the US-led airlift operation, which began just after the Taliban swept into the capital on August 14.