Clickmen
Members of the Taliban on Wednesday commemorated the third anniversary of the chaotic American withdrawal from Afghanistan by parading via a former U.S. air base with American weapons and automobiles that had been deserted.
Bagram Airfield was as soon as the middle of America’s battle to unseat the Taliban and search out the al-Qaeda militants chargeable for 9/11.
Uniformed troopers marched with gentle and heavy machine weapons, and a motorbike formation carried the Taliban flag. Pickup vans full of males of all ages drove via Kabul’s streets in celebration of the takeover.
Members of the Taliban Cabinet lauded achievements comparable to strengthening Islamic legislation and establishing a navy system that allegedly supplied “peace and security.”
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for financial affairs, middle, inspects the glory guards throughout a navy parade to mark the third anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan, in Bagram Air Base within the Parwan Province of Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)
“This is the Taliban rubbing their victory over us in our face,” U.S. Army Veteran Bill Roggio advised Fresh News Digital.
Roggio, a senior fellow on the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of its Long War Journal, referred to as the parade proof of U.S. failure in Afghanistan.
“The Biden administration’s effort to get out of Afghanistan quickly has led to the Taliban having an American-supplied arsenal,” Roggio mentioned.
‘PATH TO JUSTICE’: DURBIN URGES AUSTIN TO RETHINK REVOKING 9/11 MASTERMINDS’ PLEA DEALS
Biden’s choice to drag troops from Afghanistan confronted widespread international backlash after Taliban insurgents retook the nation in a matter of days, on Aug. 15, 2021, 20 years after their ouster by U.S.-led forces. Just a month earlier, Biden advised Americans that the probability of a Taliban takeover was “highly unlikely.”
The navy evacuation, which required 1000’s of extra U.S. troops on the bottom and important cooperation from the Taliban to finish, ended a day forward of a deadline on Aug. 30, 2021, abandoning a whole bunch of U.S. residents and 1000’s of Afghan allies, regardless of President Biden’s promise to “get them all out.”
On Aug. 26, 2021, through the U.S. navy’s mass evacuation on the Kabul airport, suicide bombers killed 183 folks, together with 13 U.S. service members. The U.S. retaliated by launching two drone strikes towards suspected ISIS-Okay terrorists, one in all which ended up killing 10 Afghan civilians, together with seven kids.
Taliban speeches had been geared toward a world viewers, urging the West to work together and cooperate with the nation’s rulers. Currently, no nation acknowledges the Taliban because the reputable authorities of Afghanistan.
Taliban fighters have fun the third anniversary of the withdrawal of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai) (AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai)
“The Islamic Emirate eliminated internal differences and expanded the scope of unity and cooperation in the country,” Deputy Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir mentioned Wednesday, utilizing the Taliban’s time period to explain their authorities. “No one will be allowed to interfere in internal affairs, and Afghan soil will not be used against any country.”
Roggio dismissed that final assertion as preposterous, noting that the Taliban has persistently lied about not permitting its soil for use for terrorist actions towards different international locations.
“They lied about it pre-9/11. They lied about it while the U.S. was in Afghanistan. They sheltered Al-Qaeda and other groups which they support to this day,” Roggio mentioned.
ROCKET ATTACK LAUNCHED AGAINST US MILITARY BASE IN SYRIA
“What I do believe them on is their desire to maintain control in Afghanistan, to enforce their will, to impose Sharia on its people,” he mentioned. “You can’t doubt them on that one.”
Roggio mentioned the Taliban’s parading on Wednesday was primarily for optics however nonetheless demonstrated the terrorist group’s capabilities.
“I don’t think the Taliban is a threat to project power outside its border. But certainly the equipment is useful to project power within Afghanistan to remain in power,” he mentioned.
Members of the Taliban sit on a navy automobile throughout a Taliban navy parade in Kabul, Afghanistan, in November 2021. (Reuters/Ali Khara)
Despite the Taliban’s grandiose displaying of their capabilities on Wednesday, there was no point out of a plan to enhance the lives of the Afghan folks. Decades of battle and instability have left thousands and thousands of Afghans getting ready to starvation and hunger. Unemployment is excessive and ladies are banned from attending faculty past sixth grade.
The Bagram parade was the Taliban’s grandest and most defiant since regaining management of the nation in August 2021.
–
The viewers of some 10,000 males included senior Taliban officers comparable to Acting Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob and Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani. Supreme chief Hibatullah Akhundzada was not on the parade.
Fresh News Digital’s Nikolas Lanum and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
