Taliban parade US military hardware, Biden says era of nation-building over
Kabul/Washington,
Sept. 1: The Taliban on Wednesday paraded dozens of American-made armoured vehicles left behind by both Afghan and US forces along with newly seized weapons at victory celebrations to mark the US withdrawal in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar even as President Joe Biden defended his decision to end the two-decade war.
Taliban fighters waved white Taliban flags from Humvees and armoured SUVs at the military parade, where many of the vehicles appeared in near perfect condition. The Taliban also organised an air display with a recently seized Black Hawk helicopter flying past the militants along the road while also trailing a white Taliban flag.
Among the light weapons cradled by the
fighters were American M16 rifles.
The Taliban’s victory lap follows the group's astonishing two-week takeover that capped a simmering 20-year insurgency.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden in an address to the nation gave a fullthroated defense of his decision to end the US war in Afghanistan after nearly 20 years of conflict, declaring the era of large
US military deployments to rebuild other nations as over.
“My fellow Americans, the war in Afghanistan is now over,” Mr Biden said from the White House.
“I’m the fourth President who has faced the issue of whether and when to end this war,” he said.
“When I was running for president I made a commitment that I would end this war, and today I have honoured that commitment. It was time to be honest with the American people; we no longer had a clear purpose in an openended mission in Afghanistan,” he said.
“This decision about Afghanistan is not just about Afghanistan, it’s about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries,” the President said.
Panjshir Valley, Sep. 1: The Taliban on Wednesday called on fighters in the holdout bastion of the Panjshir Valley to lay down their arms, as the resistance movement said it had repulsed attacks and killed 34 Taliban.
The rugged mountain valley with towering snow-capped peaks — which begins around 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the capital Kabul — is the centre of Afghanistan’s most important pocket of armed anti-Taliban forces.
The National Resistance Front (NRF), comprising anti-Taliban militia fighters and former Afghan security forces, have vowed to defend the enclave as the Islamist group sends fighters to encircle the area.
“My brothers, we tried our best to solve the Panjshir problem with talks and negotiations... but unfortunately all in vain,” senior Taliban official Amir Khan Muttaqi said, in an audio message to the people of the Panjshir posted on Twitter.
“Now that the talks have failed and Mujahiddin (Taliban) have surrounded Panjshir, there are still people inside that don’t want the problems to be solved peacefully,” he added.
“Now it is up to you to talk to them,” the Taliban message to the Panjshir people said. “Those who want to fight, tell them it
is enough.” Bismillah Mohammadi, Afghanistan’s defence minister before the government fell last month, said the Taliban had launched a renewed assault on Panjshir on Tuesday night.
Mohammadi tweeted Wednesday, claiming 34 Taliban were killed and 65 wounded.