Here’s the Taliban at Kabul airport – VG

A Taliban spokesman congratulates Afghans on the victory and says the Taliban want good diplomatic relations with the United States and the rest of the world.

“Congratulations to Afghanistan on this victory for all of us,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference on the tarmac at Kabul airport on Tuesday morning.

A few hours ago, the last American soldier left Afghanistan 20 years after the military invasion.

We want good relations with the United States and the world. He added that we want good diplomatic relations with all of them.

The Pentagon confirms that the US military has now left Kabul. Thus, the 20-year war ended.

According to Reuters, US President Joe Biden asked the Secretary of State to lead the work of international partners to ensure that those who want to leave Afghanistan can do so safely.

Biden warns that he will speak to the people on Tuesday.

“I will speak to the American people tomorrow afternoon about my decision not to extend our presence in Afghanistan beyond August 31,” Biden said. Permit Monday.

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the United States will continue its diplomatic and humanitarian work from Doha in Qatar. He says fewer than 200 Americans will remain in Afghanistan, according to Reuters.

“If we can work with the new Afghan government in a way that safeguards our interests, we will do so,” he was quoted by the news agency as saying.

At the same time, he says that aid to Afghanistan will not pass through the new government, but through independent actors.

– We made history. Anas Haqqani, a Taliban leader, wrote on Twitter that the 20-year US and NATO occupation of Afghanistan ended last night.

“I am very happy and proud to be able to experience this historic moment after 20 years of jihad, sacrifices and adversity,” he writes.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote that “our country gained complete independence” when the last US soldiers left Afghanistan.

Thank God he continues.

– scary

An AFP correspondent in Kabul reported that the sounds of gunfire in the air in celebration were heard from several checkpoints across the city.

– it’s scary. I felt much safer with the Americans. Now I feel the Taliban can do whatever they like. Now no one can monitor them, says a Norwegian citizen hiding in Kabul.

When VG spoke to him at 23 hours Norwegian time on Monday night, the Taliban fired for 40 minutes.

– It looks like I’m in a war zone now. It’s entirely possible that the Taliban are celebrating, but the way they’re shooting now, the bullets they’re firing have to fall somewhere and that’s scary.

The man tried to evacuate before From Kabul several times in vain and is now hiding with his family. VG knows his identity, but chose to hide his identity for security reasons.

– I hope Norway and the rest of NATO will now put pressure on the Taliban so that they have to open the airport. We have to evacuate. Here is not safe.

The US alone has evacuated more than 120,000 people from Kabul since the operation began just before the Taliban took control of the Afghan capital on August 14.

A deadline has been set for Tuesday to complete the evacuation.

According to several reports from journalists covering the conflict, a group of five or six US planes had left the airport when Monday became Tuesday.

This was confirmed by Taliban guard Hamad Sherzad outside the airport, who was the first to report that the last five planes had taken off around midnight on Tuesday.

Announcing the end of the evacuation, General Frank McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, announced that the last plane had taken off a minute before midnight.

A Taliban spokesman said the movement had taken control of the airport.

Norway evacuated more than a thousand people from Kabul, but halted the operation after the terrorist attack at the airport on Thursday. The soldiers who operated the Norwegian field hospital at the airport, on Monday, landed in Norway.