After taking over Afghanistan three years prior, the Taliban hosted a demonstration on Wednesday at a former U.S. airbase featuring an extensive display of American military equipment.
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan almost immediately after the Biden administration withdrew U.S. forces from the region in 2021, in what was widely criticized as a chaotic operation that left 13 troops dead. On the third anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal, members of the Taliban celebrated at the former U.S. Bagram air base on Wednesday and declared that they had restored “peace and security” to the country, even as the Afghani people continue to suffer under their rule, according to multiple reports. (RELATED: ‘They’ll Try To Get Up Again’: US Rushes To Contain Resurgence Of Islamic State In Syria)
A video of the demonstration at the base depicted Taliban fighters driving scores of U.S. combat and armored vehicles along an airstrip while helicopters fly by. Photos of the event showed a motorcycle convoy and fighters carrying weapons such as rifles and launchers.
WATCH:
JUST IN: 🇦🇫 🇺🇸 The Taliban held a military parade using United States military equipment that was left behind after the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.
This parade marks the third anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power in the nation. pic.twitter.com/oZzg0RuAo5
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) August 14, 2024
Over $7 billion worth of U.S. military equipment, including vehicles, weapons, and logistical and tactical assets, were left behind in Afghanistan when the Biden administration withdrew U.S. forces in 2021. The Bagram base, which served as the essential site for the U.S. troops operating in the region during the 20-year Afghanistan war, cost the U.S. tens of billions of dollars in construction and renovations.
“The Islamic Emirate eliminated internal differences and expanded the scope of unity and cooperation in the country,” Afghanistan Deputy Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir said during a speech at the Bagram base on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press. “No one will be allowed to interfere in internal affairs, and Afghan soil will not be used against any country.”
TOPSHOT – US President Joe Biden boards Air Force One prior to departure from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, August, 29, 2021. – Biden travels to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to attend the dignified transfer of the 13 members of the US military killed in Afghanistan. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
An audience of roughly 10,000 men attended the demonstration at the Bagram base, according to the AP. Women were barred from the event.
The Biden administration maintains that the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was the correct policy decision, despite warnings at the time that the Taliban would overwhelm U.S.-trained Afghani forces and take control of the country. The withdrawal was seen as abrupt and poorly orchestrated by leadership in Washington, and 13 U.S. service members were killed in a suicide bombing during evacuation efforts in August 2021.
Taliban security personnel take part in a military parade to celebrate the third anniversary of Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, at the Bagram Air Base, in Bagram, Parwan province on August 14, 2024. (Photo by AHMAD SAHEL ARMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The administration mostly blamed former President Donald Trump for the frenzied withdrawal in a 2023 National Security Council (NSC) report, citing that the Trump administration made a deal with the Taliban in 2020 to withdraw U.S. forces by 2021. President Joe Biden had tried to abide by that agreement after becoming president, according to the report, which also admits that the administration should have been better prepared for the evacuation.
The Trump campaign responded to the NSC report in 2023, stating that “Biden and his administration are trying to gaslight the American people for their disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan that directly led to American deaths and emboldened the terrorists.” Trump maintains that had he been president at the time, the withdrawal would have been completed safely and securely.
TOPSHOT – Taliban fighters sit over a vehicle on a street in Laghman province on August 15, 2021. (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)
“I was getting out of Afghanistan, but we were getting out with dignity, with strength, with power,” Trump said during a presidential debate against Biden in June. “He got out, it was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country’s life.”
Refugees board a US aircraft heading to Germany, after being evacuated from Kabul during an evacuation flight, at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base, 30 km from Madrid, on August 24, 2021. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s been three years since the Taliban marched into Kabul and their abysmal human rights record speaks for itself,” a State Department spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The Taliban need to earn legitimacy. To date, no country has publicly announced that it recognizes the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan.”
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