Yesterday, the Taliban movement marked the anniversary of the restoration of “freedom” in Afghanistan, a year after the departure of the international coalition led by the United States, which allowed the Islamists to regain power after a twenty-year war.
It was quiet in the capital, Kabul, in the morning, with a few Taliban fighters roaming its streets, and residents preferred to stay in their homes on this day, which the regime declared an official holiday.
Banners commemorating the victories over the three empires flew in the streets of the capital after Britain and the former Soviet Union also lost their wars in Afghanistan, and white Taliban flags with two certificates flew from lampposts in the streets and in government buildings.
No country has yet recognized the Taliban regime, which, after regaining power, largely re-enforced Islamic law strictly as it had during its first rule between 1996 and 2001, by imposing strict restrictions on in particular the freedom of women.
“We are pleased with the creation of an Islamic Emirate,” Zalmai, a pharmacist in Kabul, said to the Taliban regime.
The government said in a statement yesterday, “Wednesday marks the first anniversary of the country’s liberation from American occupation,” emphasizing that “God has given our Islamic nation this tremendous freedom and victory.”
The government added that “a large number of Mujahideen have been wounded, many children have been orphaned and many women have been widowed,” calling on the international community to pursue a “sensible policy” of dialogue.
Authorities organized an official ceremony to commemorate the anniversary at Bagram Air Base, from which US troops conducted air operations against the Taliban for two decades.
But foreign media were not allowed to participate. On Tuesday evening, fire arrows lit up the sky, and the Taliban enthusiastically fired shots into the air that rang out all over Kabul.
On August 30, 2021, one minute before midnight, the last American soldier left Kabul airport, 24 hours before the deadline set by US President Joe Biden for the withdrawal of troops from the country.
Two weeks before the withdrawal of American troops, the Taliban seized power in a lightning nationwide offensive against former government forces.
The Taliban have posted dozens of videos and photos of the newly formed force on social media showing large amounts of US military equipment left behind in the chaotic withdrawal process.
“This is how you mock a great power by humiliating it and driving it out of your country,” he wrote in a comment on a Twitter photo of a giant Taliban flag painted on the wall of the former US embassy.
Biden and the US turned the page on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan
Joe Biden faced harsh criticism for the ignominious failure of the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan a year ago, but he has pretty much turned the page even though the country, torn apart by decades of war, still faces huge challenges.
The President of the United States contented himself with issuing a statement commemorating this operation and the killing of 13 American soldiers on August 26, 2021 in a suicide attack in front of Kabul airport, while his administration celebrated the anniversary of the operation in the shadows. withdrawal that ended the longest war the United States had ever fought.
In a message to the military, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin praised the 2,461 Americans killed on the front lines and the US efforts to “build a better future for the Afghan people” as the country once again fell under Taliban rule.
A Gallup poll found that fifty percent of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan was a mistake, in contrast to the near-consensus that prevailed after the September 11, 2001 attacks that justified the invasion of the country and the fall of the Taliban that followed.
