Taliban spokesman congratulates Afghan people after US forces withdrawal

Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, has congratulated the people of Afghanistan following the complete withdrawal of US forces from the country.

The Pentagon said the last US military planes have left Afghanistan, marking the end of the United States’ longest war.

The departure is the first time in nearly two decades that the US and its allies have not had troops on the ground. The evacuation effort met President Biden’s withdrawal deadline, but has been marked by chaotic and bloody events. 

More than 170 people were killed, including 13 American service members, in last week’s attack near Kabul’s airport, in one of the US’ worst foreign policy moves in three decades.

Speaking from the runway of Kabul airport just hours after the last American troops had flown out, Mujahid told a small crowd of people that “this victory belongs to us all.”

“We want to have good relations with the US and the world,” said Mujahid, who appeared beside heavily armed fighters from the Taliban’s special forces brigade. 

“We hope that Afghanistan is never occupied again, and this country stays prosperous, free, home for all Afghans and governed by the Islamic rule.”

Mujahid then congratulated a group of fighters beside him, telling them he hoped Taliban combatants would now “treat the people nicely.”

“This nation has the right to live in peace, the right to prosperity, and we are the servants of the nation not, God forbid, that we are dominant over the nation,” he said. 

“I am praising your sacrifices; I thank you and I congratulate you.”