Taliban Fire Guns In Air In Celebration As Last Plane Carrying Americans Leaves Kabul

Celebratory shots were fired by the Taliban in Kabul on Monday as the group gloated their victory after the United States finally concluded the pullout of its forces before the end of August. The exodus leaves the Islamic militant group in power to rule all of Afghanistan but Panjshir, where local fighters of the dismantled Afghan security forces have pledged to fight on.

“The last five aircraft have left, it’s over!” Hemad Sherzad, a Taliban fighter stationed at Kabul’s international airport, said. “I cannot express my happiness in words. Our 20 years of sacrifice worked.”

Marine General Frank McKenzie, the head of the U.S. Central Command, confirmed the withdrawal at a Pentagon news briefing on Monday, Aljazeera reported.

A large C-17 military transport, carrying the last cohort of Americans and Afghans wishing to flee Taliban’s rule, departed Hamid Karzai International Airport a minute before midnight Kabul time. It is in tune with the Aug. 31 deadline set by President Joe Biden for the troop withdrawal earlier this year.

“We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out. But I think if we stayed another 10 days, we would not get everybody that we wanted to get out. And there still would have been people disappointed. It’s a tough situation," he said.

The final flight took off under heavy security following a suicide bombing attack during the two-week evacuation blitz, the NBC News noted.

The Islamic State Khorasan Province has since taken responsibility for the explosion, which left at least 175 people dead, including 13 U.S. troops.

In a statement, President Biden praised the evacuation operation and vowed to ensure “safe passage” out of Afghanistan for Americans and Afghans wishing to leave who may remain stranded in the country.

“The Taliban has made commitments on safe passage and the world will hold them to their commitments,” Biden said. “It will include ongoing diplomacy in Afghanistan and coordination with partners in the region to reopen the airport allowing for continued departure for those who want to leave and delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.”

The U.S. has now moved its Afghan diplomatic mission to Qatar, which mediated talks between America and the Taliban, as it ended the costly 20-year foreign occupation in Afghanistan.

The Taliban governed Afghanistan under a harsh interpretation of Islamic law from 1996 until 2001, banning television and music, as well as barring women from attending school or working outside the home. The group also carried out public executions to instill fear in the community.

America and its allies invaded the country following the four coordinated attacks on the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, schemed by the Wahhabi Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda while sheltering under Taliban rule, according to the Associated Press.

In February 2020, the Trump administration secured a peace deal with the Taliban, paving the way for the withdrawal. When Biden assumed the presidential post, he extended the deadline from May to August.

He would then continue with the pullout despite the Taliban’s blitz across the country earlier this month, which saw the rapid fall of Kabul.

It left the Taliban to reign in Afghanistan but the Panjshir province, where they are now seeking a peaceful resolution with the few members of the Afghan security force there who have declared their intention to resist extremist rule.