Here, the crowd carries coffins with, among other things, French, American and British flags.
Monday night Norwegian time left the last US forces Afghanistan. Shortly afterwards, the Taliban celebrated by firing around Kabul.
On Tuesday, they take the celebration to a new level, holding funerals for NATO, Britain, France and the United States, all of which have withdrawn their forces from the country after being at the site for 20 years, several international media write.
The Taliban carried coffins with the flags of the countries around the streets of the city of Khost, which was full of people, to show that they once again have full power and that the international effort to create a more democratic society in the country is now over.
Some in the crowd held up weapons, while others waved Taliban flags or filmed the fake funeral on their cell phones.
August 31 is our formal day of freedom. On this day, US occupation forces and NATO forces fled the country, Taliban official Qari Saeed Khosti told local television station Zhman TV.
Thousands of people also gathered in the city of Kandahar with white flags to celebrate what they call “Freedom Day”.
Earlier Tuesday morning, the Taliban had taken control of Hamid Karzai airport in Kabul, where hundreds of thousands have tried to flee the country the last few weeks.
“Congratulations to Afghanistan, this victory belongs to all of us,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said at a sort of press conference on the runway at Kabul airport on Tuesday morning.
Norway stopped the evacuation from Afghanistan on 26 August. Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide then said at a press conference that it was too dangerous to continue the work, and that more people would be left behind.
– We do not finish the work, but it is completely unrealistic now to give a hope that there is a quick solution for those who do not get out, the Foreign Minister said at the time.
Earlier, the Taliban had set a deadline for all international forces to leave the country on Tuesday, August 31. No one knows for sure what will happen in the future, but there are some suspicions.
Although the Taliban now control almost the entire nation, the dissident group National Resistance Front, hopes to participate in negotiations on Afghanistan’s future, writes Huffington Post.
The Taliban also has terrorist threats from IS, another branch of Islamic militants who do not support the way the Taliban negotiated with the United States to gain control of Afghanistan, the website writes.
To complicate matters further, the Taliban are trying to present themselves as a more moderate military force that is more “inclusive” and “Islamic” than it was in the 1990s.
Although many are very skeptical about whether this is true, it is believed that the Taliban is trying to keep its appearance, so that the West does not withdraw its humanitarian aid, the website reports.
–