Taliban Celebrate 1st Anniversary of US Withdrawal From Afghanistan

The Taliban celebrated the first anniversary of the withdrawal of US and allied troops from Afghanistan, including declaring Wednesday a national holiday. An official ceremony was held on Wednesday at Bagram Air Base, formerly the largest US military base in Afghanistan. The plane carrying the last US troops took off from Kabul airport at one minute before midnight on August 31, 2021, ending a two-decade long conflict which began in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US. Some 66,000 Afghan troops and 48,000 civilians were killed over those two decades, as well as 2,461 US servicemen and over 3,500 troops from other NATO countries. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a message to US troops on the first anniversary of the withdrawal wrote that “I first want to express my profound gratitude to all who served in Afghanistan … .Every American who contributed to our efforts shared a deep devotion to keeping our country safe, working toward a brighter future for the Afghan people, and standing up for liberty, democracy, and the rule of law. As a veteran of the war, I witnessed firsthand the bravery, selflessness, and compassion that our men and women brought to the fight.” He also made reference to the “largest air evacuation of civilians in American history, lifting more than 124,000 people to safety.” He added: “As our country looks back on two decades of combat in Afghanistan, I understand that many people have hard questions about the costs of the war and what their sacrifices meant. These are important discussions, and I hope we will keep having them with thoughtfulness and respect.”