Taliban celebrates US exit from Afghanistan, vows to impose Islamic rule

Tens of thousands of Afghans still desperately tried to leave the country by land routes, and many—especially in Kabul—watched the new era in Afghanistan’s bloody history with fear and apprehension.

Senior figures in the Islamist movement stand in front of a C-130 transport plane at Kabul airport, the center of a chaotic US-led evacuation operation in recent days. Fighters take selfies in the cockpits of Afghan military helicopters, which were decommissioned and abandoned.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, “We hope that Afghanistan will never be invaded again, it will be rebuilt, remain independent, and a sacred Islamic order will rule.” Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great.”

Speaking to members of the Taliban’s Badri 313 unit, Mr Mujahid said: “I admire all your sacrifices, congratulate all of you on great victories and achieving freedom and independence for Afghanistan.”

The day represents a historic moment for the Taliban, who were ousted by the US offensive in the wake of the 2001 September 11 terrorist attacks – plotted by Al Qaeda on Afghan soil.

The group has already received congratulations for its withdrawal from several Islamic movements around the world, including those whom Washington classifies as terrorists.

The Taliban, who sought a peaceful solution in a February 2020 deal with the Trump administration in Doha, Qatar, managed to seize power on 15 August, although foreign forces still remained in the country.

For the past two weeks, Taliban units stationed in uneasy co-operation with US troops around Kabul airport Washington and its allies have carried out a massive airlift that took away some 122,000 foreign nationals and Afghans who were killed in the country’s new country. There was a fear of persecution by the rulers.

Many others, including 100 to 200 US citizens, are left behind. There are currently no commercial flight operations in Kabul, and it was unclear when they would resume.

No longer an insurgent movement, the Taliban must now run a country of nearly 40 million people cut off from the rest of the world and lacking access to an internationally recognized government or a global financial system and aid.

The Taliban also has to contend with a threat posed by the more radical Islamic State, which last week carried out one of the deadliest terrorist attacks of the war, killing 13 US soldiers and some 200 Afghans.

Since the collapse of the Afghan Republic, prices of basic commodities have soared, the Afghan currency has declined and the banking system has been confiscated, with withdrawals limited to $200 per week and long lines at outside branches. The Sarai-e-Shahzada, the main currency converter market in Kabul, remained closed.

Along with the US and other western countries, India has closed its embassies in Kabul. However, Pakistan, China, Russia, Iran and NATO member Turkey maintain a diplomatic presence in the Afghan capital. While not formally recognizing Taliban officials, they are in regular contact with them.

Senior Taliban officials have said they want an inclusive government and have met several prominent figures in the ousted Afghan republic in recent weeks, such as former President Hamid Karzai and former chief peace negotiator Abdullah Abdullah.

However, these were mostly courtesy meetings, during which very few things were discussed, said a person familiar with these meetings. Mr Karzai, in particular, has been advised by the Taliban not to leave his residence for security reasons, the person said, essentially placing him under house arrest.

In Kabul, a city of nearly six million people, many were stunned by the nightly celebratory gunfire that followed the US evacuation, and were ill at ease with the Taliban’s harsh new rules.

A 28-year-old resident who imports groceries from Iran said, “The way the Taliban treats people is very harsh, but is now unemployed. No one can raise their voice because everyone is afraid of them.” “

Tuesday was a happy day for Taliban fighters and their supporters in Afghanistan. According to footage posted on social media, a Toyota Hilux was driven around the eastern city of Khost with fake coffins in the flags of the US, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the UK and France.

The banner on the hood said, “The dead bodies have left Afghanistan forever, we congratulate you on this big victory.” Later, the coffins are paraded through a major victory rally in the city centre.

To the roar of thousands, a senior Taliban leader in Khost praised the suicide bombers, who he said drove the American invaders. According to the recording of the rally, he said, “We will establish the Islamic system that you yearned for. Your dreams have come true. We have achieved the dream for which you slew your flesh. We will give you Congratulations in your graves.”

Large crowds also gathered in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Islamist movement, to wave the Taliban’s white flag in support of passing cars and auto rickshaws, according to videos posted on social media. Taliban fighters on motorcycles were parading the streets.

The Taliban now control all 34 provinces of Afghanistan except one: Panjshir, a narrow valley north of Kabul where anti-Taliban militia and some remnants of a defeated Afghan army are hiding. Although the Taliban and Panjshiri are negotiating a possible deal, armed clashes continue at the entrance to the valley.

Faheem Dashti, an aide of Panjshiri resistance leader Ahmed Masood, said several members of the Taliban were killed overnight. “They wanted to test their luck by attacking Panjshir,” he said. But by the grace of God, they were not lucky.

This story has been published without modification to the text from a wire agency feed