Days before the Fall of Kabul on August 15, 2021, Taliban fighters had begun infiltrating the Afghan capital. Among them were jihadi fighters from Pakistani jihadi organizations such as Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). As Kabul fell and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left the country on August 15, the Taliban mujahideen met no resistance from the Afghan security forces. Afghanistan had fallen to the Islamic Emirate.
As the last American soldier left Afghanistan on August 31, the date set for the U.S. exit by President Joe Biden, Afghan Taliban set off fireworks and fired gunshots into the air to celebrate America's military defeat. According to a September 1 report in the pro-Taliban Urdu daily Roznama Ummat, the Taliban mujahideen and their leaders offered prayers in mosques, held celebratory rallies, delivered speeches, sang jihadi songs, hoisted flags on cars and U.S. military vehicles, and distributed sweets in Kabul and other provinces of Afghanistan.
The Islamist newspaper wrote that Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid and commander Anas Haqqani entered the international airport in Kabul where they offered nawafil ("thanksgiving") prayers, whereas Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the pro-Taliban Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan, delivered a speech, saying: "The jihad that began against the USSR in the 1980s has succeeded in the form of America's defeat." A selection of photos given below captures the historic moment of America's exit from Afghanistan.
Clockwise from top left: Taliban set off fireworks to celebrate America's defeat; The last American soldier leaves Afghanistan on August 31, 2021; American military helicopters and other weapons abandoned at the Kabul airport; Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid and other Taliban leaders talk to media at the Kabul airport; "Badri 313" terror commanders take control of Kabul airport. (Roznama Express, September 1, 2021)
Taliban mujahideen offer prayers in a Kabul mosque to thank Allah for expelling U.S. troops from Afghanistan. The pro-Taliban Roznama Ummat titled this photo in red: "The powers are yours, And God is ours." (Roznama Ummat, September 1, 2021)
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Left: In Kabul, a symbolic funeral of America and NATO countries was organized by Afghan Taliban. Right: In Paktia province, Afghan Taliban mujahideen hold a celebratory rally (Roznama Ummat, September 1, 2021).
At a celebratory event in Kandahar, the Afghan Taliban fly a helicopter with the Taliban flag (Roznama Express, September 2, 2021).
A Taliban mujahid, clad in black, gives the call to prayer at the Kabul airport. In this case the call to prayer denotes a victory (Roznama Dunya, September 1, 2021).
In Kandahar, Afghan Taliban held a military parade to mark the American withdrawal (Roznama Ummat, September 2, 2021)
In Khost, Taliban fighters held a symbolic funeral procession that local residents joined (Roznama Dunya, September 1, 2021).
Armed jihadi fighters fly Taliban flags on abandoned American military vehicles (Roznama Ummat, September 2, 2021)
In Kandahar city's central market, Afghan Taliban fighters held a freedom rally (Roznama Ummat, September 1, 2021)
Afghan Taliban offer nawafil ("thanksgiving") prayers for the expulsion of American troops from Afghanistan (Roznama Ummat, September 1, 2021)
A Taliban fighter in the cockpit of an American military helicopter (Roznama Dunya, September 1, 2021)
American military vehicles abandoned by U.S. troops in Kabul and now captured by the Taliban mujahideen (Roznama Ummat, September 1, 2021)
Afghan Taliban's Rehbari Shura ("leadership council") met under Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, the emir of the Islamic Emirate (the Afghan Taliban organization), in Kandahar on August 31, 2021, the last day of the American military presence in Afghanistan (Roznama Ummat, September 1, 2021).
