‘DEATH TO THE WEST’
■ GLOATING TALIBAN HOLD MOCK STREET FUNERALS ■ SICK PARADE OF BRIT, U.S. AND FRENCH ‘COFFINS’
COFFINS draped in flags including Britain’s were carried as the Taliban declared victory over the West in Afghanistan yesterday.
The tasteless parade in Khost, accompanied by funeral prayers, came after the bodies of 13 American troops killed in a bomb attack at Kabul airport were repatriated on Sunday. Gunfire could be heard throughout the night across the capital after the last US troops flew out on Monday, ending the 20-year war that has cost 457 British lives.
The fundamentalist group were also taking stock of £62billion worth of weapons and equipment left by the departing Americans.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid insisted they would be ‘pleasant and nice’ to those left behind as Downing Street admitted
hundreds of British citizens were now in the group’s hands amid reports of summary executions.
‘At this stage, it is too early to dictate if and how we would work with the Taliban going forward,’ No.10 said. ‘A lot will depend on their actions from now.’
US commander Gen Kenneth F. McKenzie said that 73 aircraft and 27 Humvee armoured vehicles were disabled by the departing US troops as they fled Kabul airport – with Maj Gen Chris Donahue the last to leave.
However, another 22,000 Humvees are now with the Taliban, along with more than 60 fighter aircraft.
Taliban soldiers dressed in American kit left behind by the Afghan army were pictured flying over Kandahar in one of 45 Black Hawk helicopters now under their control. The new regime’s official news channel gloated: ‘Our air force!’
Britain’s defence secretary Ben Wallace insisted only ‘non-lethal’ equipment was left behind by UK troops.
But the pictures sparked anger in the US. Republican congressman Jim Banks said the Taliban now have more Black Hawks than 85 per cent of the world’s countries.
He said the ‘negligence’ of US president Joe Biden’s administration had given the extremists access to $85billion (£62billion) worth of military equipment.
He added: ‘Unbelievably, and unfathomable to me and so many others, the Taliban now has access to biometric devices. This administration still has no plan to get this military equipment or supplies back.’
The haul also includes 33 Mi-17 helicopters, 169 armoured personnel carriers, 16,000 pairs of night vision goggles, 42,000 SUVs, 64,000 machine guns, 126,000 hand guns and 359,000 assault rifles.
Nine US-trained fighters were reportedly executed in Daikundi province, west of Kabul, while trying to join thousands of others defecting to the Taliban.
‘They were surrounded by Taliban fighters inside a house and they handed over
their weapons,’ a former official told The Washington Post.
‘The security forces were brutally killed by the Taliban. They were all executed.’
Speaking from the White House last night, Mr Biden defended his decision to end the military effort in Afghanistan and hailed what he called the ‘extraordinary success’ of the evacuation.
He said: ‘Some say we should have started the mass evacuation sooner and couldn’t have this been done in a more orderly manner. I respectfully disagree.’
He also insisted: ‘I do not believe the safety and security of America is enhanced by deploying thousands of troops and spending billions in Afghanistan.
‘We no longer have a clear purpose in an open-ended mission in Afghanistan after 20 years of war. I refuse to send another generation of America’s sons and daughters to fight a war that should have ended long ago.’
Taliban leaders said they wanted peace with the West as they celebrated ‘independence day’.
Mr Mujahid said: ‘It’s a big lesson for other invaders and a lesson for the world. The Islamic Emirate wants to have good diplomatic relations with the whole world.’
But Maulawi Hafiz Mohibullah Muktaz, a fighter at Bagram airbase, said: ‘Never in our wildest dreams could we have believed we could beat a superpower like America with just our Kalashnikovs.
‘We hope that Bagram can be a base for jihad for all Muslims. See the West’s mighty technology humbled here by mujahideen.’