Afghan Taliban celebrated victory today and termed their country free and independent from invaders.
Afghan Taliban watched the last US planes disappear into the sky around midnight Monday and then fired their guns into the air, celebrating victory after a 20-year insurgency in Afghanistan that drove the world’s most powerful military out of one of the poorest countries.
The departure of the cargo planes marked the end of a massive airlift in which tens of thousands of people fled Afghanistan, fearful of the return of Taliban rule after they took over most of the country and rolled into the capital earlier this month.
“The last five aircraft have left, it’s over!” said Hemad Sherzad, a Taliban stationed at Kabul’s international airport. “I cannot express my happiness in words. … Our 20 years of sacrifice worked.”
In Washington, Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of US Central Command, announced the completion of America’s longest war and the evacuation effort, saying the last planes took off from Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. EDT — one minute before midnight Monday in Kabul.
“We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out,” he said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday, the US expects the Taliban to live up to their commitments now that US troops have pulled out of Afghanistan, but any legitimacy or support will need to be “earned.”
America’s top diplomat, speaking just hours after the final US evacuation flights left Kabul, said Washington has suspended its diplomatic presence in Kabul as of Monday and shifted its operations to Qatar.
“Our troops have departed Afghanistan,” Blinken said. “A new chapter of America’s engagement with Afghanistan has begun.
“It’s one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. The military mission is over; a new diplomatic mission has begun.”
Blinken said the Taliban would need to live up to their commitments to provide freedom of travel, to respect the rights of women and minorities and to not allow the country to become a base for terrorism.
“Any legitimacy and any support will have to be earned,” Blinken said.
With its last troops gone, the US ended its 20-year war with the Taliban back in power. Many Afghans remain fearful of them or further instability, and there have been sporadic reports of killings and other abuses in areas under Taliban control despite pledges to restore peace and security.
