KABUL, Afghanistan
The United States has pulled all its troops out of Afghanistan, ending its longest war to cries of shame at home and celebratory gunfire from its victorious Taliban enemies in Kabul.
The last of the American troops
overseeing a desperate evacuation effort flew out of Kabul airport on Monday
night, completing a withdrawal that has raised deep questions about the United
States' status as a superpower.
Taliban fighters quickly swept into the
airport and fired weapons into the sky in jubilation, celebrating an astonishing
victory for the hard-line Islamist movement two decades after US forces invaded
Afghanistan
However, the Taliban will inherit a
devastated country despite the United States spending billions to rebuild it,
with deep poverty, drought and Islamic State threats among the many challenges.
For the Afghan people, many 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.
The early finish followed a threat from
the regional offshoot of the Islamic State group, rivals of the Taliban, which
was seeking to attack the US forces at the airport.
Thirteen US troops were among more than
100 people killed when an IS suicide bomber late last week attacked the
perimeter of the airport, where desperate Afghans had massed in 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.
Biden said he would address the nation on
Tuesday in Washington, as his critics continued to savage him for his handling
of the withdrawal.
"We can't fight endless wars, but
the scope & consequence of Biden's failure here is staggering,"
Republican Senator Rick Scott said.
"President Biden has brought great
shame on the American people," added congressman Richard Hudson.
Biden's top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was able to offer little more than stern words for the Taliban.
"Any legitimacy and any support will
have to be earned," Blinken said, as he announced the United States had
suspended its diplomatic presence in Kabul and shifted its operations to Qatar.
In Kabul, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah
Mujahid said Afghanistan had "gained full independence" with the US
withdrawal.
Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official,
said he was "proud" to witness "these historic moments".
AFP correspondents in the city heard
celebratory gunfire from several Taliban checkpoints, as well as the cheers of
fighters manning security posts in the Green Zone.
All eyes will now turn to how the Taliban
handles its first few days with sole authority over the country, with a sharp
focus on whether it will allow other foreigners and Afghans to leave the
country.
Blinken said a small number of US
citizens remained in the country -- "under 200" but likely closer to
just 100 -- and wanted to leave.
Many thousands of other Afghans who had
worked with the US-backed government and fear retribution also want to get out.
Western allies have voiced heartbreak in
recent days that not all Afghans who wanted to flee could get on the evacuation
flights.
The UN Security Council adopted a
resolution Monday, requiring the Taliban to honour a commitment to let people freely
leave Afghanistan in the days ahead, and to grant access to the UN and other
aid agencies.
But they did not agree to call for the
creation of a "safe zone" in Kabul, as envisaged by French President
Emmanual Macron.
Talks are ongoing as to who will now run
Kabul airport.
The Taliban have asked Turkey to handle
logistics while they maintain control of security, but President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan has not yet accepted that offer.
It was not immediately clear which
airlines would agree to fly in and out of Kabul.
The regional Islamic State-Khorasan
(IS-K) group had posed the biggest threat to the withdrawal after it carried
out the devastating suicide bombing outside the airport last week.
On Monday, they also claimed to have
fired six rockets at the airport. A Taliban m
official said the attack was intercepted by the airport's missile
defence systems.
And in an echo of the tragedies of
civilian deaths that plagued the war and cost the United States local support,
a US air strike in Kabul targeting a purported IS car bomb on the weekend
appeared to have killed children.
The United States said Sunday it had
carried out a drone strike against a vehicle threatening the Kabul airport.
Members of one family said they believed
a fatal error had been made, and that 10 civilians were killed.
"My brother and his four children
were killed. I lost my small daughter... nephews and nieces," Aimal Ahmadi
said.
No comments:
Post a Comment