As India celebrated its 75th Independence day on Sunday (August 15), the dreaded Islamic terror group, the Taliban entered Kabul without any resistance after President Ashraf Ghani resigned and left the country to avoid bloodshed.
Ghani said, “If left unchecked, countless patriots would be martyred and the city of Kabul would be devastated, resulting in a major humanitarian catastrophe in the six-million-strong city.”
Taking to Facebook, Ghani asserted that he faced a “hard choice” between the “armed Taliban” or “leaving the dear country”. He also said, “The Taliban have won with the judgement of their swords and guns, and are now responsible for the honour, property and self-preservation of their countrymen.”
Though there are still many provinces of the war-torn country that are not under the control of the Taliban, however, by getting control of Kabul, the dream of converting Afghanistan into an Islamic emirate has now been realised two decades after the invasion by the United States.
The militant group now sits comfortably in the presidential palace, and has said it plans to soon declare a new “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
No one expected Kabul to fall this quickly because a US intelligence assessment had said that it would take ninety days for the Taliban to get to Kabul. Now this victory has shocked NATO allies and it is clear that US President Joe Biden’s administration was blindsided by the Taliban’s advance.
Analysts also compared the withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan to the American war in Vietnam.
The bitter memories of the Saigon retreat were in full display as U.S. military helicopters were seen ferrying passengers from the U.S. embassy and the lowering of the American flag meant that the twenty-year-old war on terror is now over.
However, it is the common Afghans who supported America who are now lined up at the airport, desperately trying to get out of the country as the Taliban bays for their blood.
On April 14, 2021, President Joe Biden announced the complete withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, and without informing the Afghan government, the Bagram airbase was abandoned. After that, it took just four months for the Taliban to capture Kabul with technical support from Pakistan.
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