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On Tuesday, hours after the final U.S. army pullout that concluded America’s longest war, the Taliban marched triumphantly into Kabul’s international airport. Taliban officials swore to safeguard the country, reopen the airport fast, and extend amnesty to erstwhile opponents as they stood on the tarmac.
Turbaned Taliban leaders came on the tarmac surrounded by the rebels’ elite Badri squad in a display of control. The commandos proudly posed for photos in their camouflage suits.
Reopening the airport is only one of the significant obstacles the Taliban confront in governing a nation of 38 million people that has relied on billions of dollars in international aid for the past two decades.
On the tarmac, Hekmatullah Wasiq, a prominent Taliban official, told The Associated Press, “Afghanistan is finally free.” “Both the military and civilian sides of the airport are on our side and in command. Hopefully, we’ll be able to announce our Cabinet soon. Everything is at ease. Everything is in good working order.”
Wasiq also urged people to return to work and reaffirmed the Taliban’s promise of an amnesty for all. He stated, “People must be patient.” “Everything will gradually return to normal. It’ll take some time.”
The US military had just completed the largest airlift of non-combatants in history just hours before.
The turmoil of the previous days could still be seen on Tuesday morning. In the terminal, rummaged bags and clothing, as well as wads of documents, were thrown around. Overturned cars and parked vehicles barred routes around the civilian airport, with concertina wire separating regions – a hint of efforts made to defend against prospective suicide car bombers entering the facility.
Vehicles carrying Taliban fighters raced back and forth on the military side of the Hamid Karzai International Airport’s single runway. Before morning, heavily armed Taliban gunmen walked through hangars, passing some of the State Department’s seven CH-46 helicopters used in evacuations before destroying them.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, spoke to the Badri unit’s assembled members. “I hope you deal with the nation with extreme caution,” he remarked. “Our country has been through war and invasion, yet the people are not more tolerant.”
“God is the greatest!” the Badri fighters exclaimed at the conclusion of his speech.
Mujahid also mentioned resuming operations at the airport, which remains a crucial exit point for individuals seeking to flee the country, in an interview with Afghan state television.
“Our technical team will assess the airport’s technical and logistical requirements,” he said. “If we can fix everything on our own, we won’t need any assistance. If we want technical or logistical assistance to restore the damage, we may seek assistance from Qatar or Turkey.”
He didn’t go into detail about what was destroyed.
Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, the commander of the United States military’s Central Command, had stated that forces had destroyed 27 Humvees and 73 aircraft such that they could not be used again. He said that forces did not detonate explosives that would have been required to reopen the airport.
Since the Taliban blitzed over Afghanistan and conquered Kabul on Aug. 15, the airport had seen chaotic and violent scenes. Thousands of Afghans surrounded the airport, with several dying after clinging to the side of an American C-17 military cargo plane. At least 169 Afghans and 13 US service members were murdered in an Islamic State suicide bombing at an airport gate last week.
According to the White House, US military assisted in the evacuation of nearly 120,000 US citizens, foreigners, and Afghans. Coalition forces also evacuated Afghans and residents. However, foreign countries including the United States admitted that not everyone who wished to leave was evacuated.
Guards now still on duty held out the inquisitive and those still wanting to catch a flight out on Tuesday, after a night in which the Taliban fired triumphantly into the air.
“We overcame the Americans after 20 years,” claimed Mohammad Islam, a Taliban guard from Logar province who was holding a Kalashnikov gun at the airport. “They are no longer here, and our country is now free.”
“What we want is crystal obvious. He went on to say, “We want Shariah (Islamic law), peace, and stability.”
After the pullout, Zalmay Khalilzad, the United States’ special representative for talks with the Taliban, remarked on Twitter that “Afghans confront a moment of decision & opportunity.”
However, when they seize control of the government, the Taliban may encounter a series of serious challenges. The majority of Afghanistan’s foreign reserves, worth billions of dollars, are now blocked in the United States, putting downward pressure on the Afghani currency. Banks have established withdrawal limitations in the face of the uncertainty, anticipating a run on their savings. Civil servants all around the country claim they haven’t been paid in months.
Abdul Maqsood, a traffic cop who has worked near the airport for the previous ten years, said he hadn’t paid in four months.
“We keep showing up for work, but we don’t get paid,” he explained.
Schools have reopened, and dozens of elementary school pupils arrived at their respective schools in a suburb near the airport on Tuesday morning. Although the Taliban have ordered that schools be segregated, this is not always followed, especially for younger students.
Masooda, a fifth-grader, declared, “I am not terrified of the Taliban.”
According to the White House, US military assisted in the evacuation of more than 120,000 Americans, foreigners, and Afghans. Afghans and Coalition forces were also evacuated. Foreign countries including the US, however, recognised that they did not evacuate everyone who wanted to go.
