KABUL: The Taliban declared Wednesday a national holiday and decorated the capital with colored lights to celebrate the first anniversary of the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan.
The country’s new rulers — not formally recognized by any other nation — have reimposed their harsh version of Islamic law on the impoverished country, with women squeezed out of public life.
But despite the restrictions, and a deepening humanitarian crisis, many Afghans say they are glad the foreign force that prompted the Taliban insurgency left after a brutal 20-year war.
“We are happy that Allah got rid of the infidels from our country, and the Islamic Emirate has been established,” said Zalmai, a resident of Kabul.
“Happy Independence Day,” tweeted government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
In a separate statement, the government said the day marked “the country’s freedom from American occupation.”
“So many mujhahideen have been wounded (over the years), so many children became orphans and so many women become widows.”
The authorities held an official celebration at Bagram air base, which US forces used to launch air strikes against the Taliban.
Foreign media outlets were not allowed to attend the event.
Kabul was quiet on Wednesday morning with a few Taliban fighters driving around the city and most residents staying indoors after the government declared a national holiday.
The plane carrying the last US troops took off from Kabul just a minute before midnight on August 31 last year.
That departure ended America’s longest war, which began in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York.
Some 66,000 Afghan troops and 48,000 civilians were killed in the conflict, but it was the deaths of US service members — 2,461 in total — that became too much for the American public to bear.
“The burden of the war in Afghanistan, however, went beyond Americans,” the US military said Tuesday.
More than 3,500 troops from other NATO countries were also killed.
Two weeks before the end of last year’s withdrawal, the Taliban seized power following a lightning offensive against government forces.
Banners celebrating victories against three empires — the former Soviet Union and Britain also lost wars in Afghanistan — flew in Kabul on Wednesday.
Hundreds of white Taliban flags bearing the Islamic proclamation of faith flew from lamposts and government buildings, while squares in the capital were decorated with lights.
On Tuesday night, the skies above Kabul were lit up with fireworks and celebratory gunfire from crowds of Taliban fighters.
In Massoud Square, near the former US embassy, armed fighters carrying Taliban flags chanted “Death to America.” Others drove around the city honking their horns.
Taliban social media accounts posted videos and pictures of newly trained troops — many flaunting equipment the US military left behind during its chaotic withdrawal.
“This is how you troll a superpower after humiliating them and forcing them to withdraw from your country,” read a tweet with a photo of a giant Taliban flag now painted on the wall of the former US embassy.
Despite the Taliban’s pride in taking over, Afghanistan’s 38 million people face a desperate humanitarian crisis — aggravated after billions of dollars in assets were frozen and foreign aid dried up.
Hardships for ordinary Afghans, especially women, have increased.
The Taliban have shut secondary girls’ schools in many provinces and barred women from many government jobs.
They have also ordered women to fully cover up in public — ideally with an all-encompassing burqa.
“Women are mentally disturbed because they have no career, no education, and no basic rights,” said Zulal, a former government employee in the city of Herat who lost her job after the arrival of the Taliban.
“Girls are particularly distressed after their schools were closed. You can see it on their faces.”
Taliban spokesman Mujahid last week claimed there had been “major achievements” in the past year.
“Afghans are no more being killed in war, foreign forces have withdrawn, and security has improved,” he told reporters.
Taliban celebrate anniversary of foreign troop withdrawal
https://arab.news/23anj
Taliban celebrate anniversary of foreign troop withdrawal
- The government said the day marked “the country’s freedom from American occupation”
- Foreign media outlets were not allowed to attend the event
In Ethiopia, Tigrayans fear return to ‘full-scale war’
- Flights have been suspended into Tigray since Thursday and local authorities reported drone strikes on goods lorries
- The international community fears the fighting could turn into an international conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea
ADDIS ABABA: Tigrayans in northern Ethiopia fear a return to all-out war amid reports that clashes were continuing between local and federal forces on Monday, barely three years after the last devastating conflict in the region.
The civil war of 2020-2022 between the Ethiopian government and Tigray forces killed more than 600,000 people and a peace deal known as the Pretoria Agreement has never fully resolved the tensions.
Fighting broke out again last week in a disputed area of western Tigray called Tselemt and the Afar region to the east of Tigray.
Abel, 38, a teacher in Tigray’s second city Adigrat, said he still hadn’t recovered from the trauma of the last war and had now “entered into another round of high anxiety.”
“If war breaks out now... it could lead to an endless conflict that can even be dangerous to the larger east African region,” added Abel, whose name has been changed along with other interviewees to protect their identity.
Flights have been suspended into Tigray since Thursday and local authorities reported drone strikes on goods lorries on Saturday that killed at least one driver.
In Afar, a humanitarian worker, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said there had been air strikes on Tigrayan forces and that clashes were ongoing on Monday, with tens of thousands of people displaced.
AFP could not independently verify the claims and the government has yet to give any comment on the clashes.
In the regional capital Mekele, Nahom, 35, said many people were booking bus tickets this weekend to leave, fearing that land transport would also be restricted soon.
“My greatest fear is the latest clashes turning into full-scale war and complete siege like what happened before,” he told AFP by phone, adding that he, too, would leave if he could afford it.
Gebremedhin, a 40-year-old civil servant in the city of Axum, said banks had stopped distributing cash and there were shortages in grocery stores.
“This isn’t only a problem of lack of supplies but also hoarding by traders who fear return of conflict and siege,” he said.
The region was placed under a strict lockdown during the last war, with flights suspended, and banking and communications cut off.
The international community fears the fighting could turn into an international conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, whose relations have been increasingly tense in recent months.
The Ethiopian government accuses the Tigrayan authorities and Eritrea of forging closer ties.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “deeply concerned about... the risk of a return to a wider conflict in a region still working to rebuild and recover,” his spokesman said.
The EU said that an “immediate de-escalation is imperative to prevent a renewed conflict.”
