‘Tonight We Celebrate in Style’: Taliban Puts on Fireworks Show After U.S. Departure

TOPSHOT - Fireworks light up part of the night sky after the last US aircraft took off fro
AFP via Getty
Frances Martel

Taliban terrorists organized a fireworks display over Kabul in the early morning hours of Tuesday to celebrate the departure of the last American troops from the country, allegedly for the foreseeable future.

Jihadists in the streets of the capital also celebrated with widespread shouting and gunfire, causing so much noise that Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement urging civilians not to panic about the “shots of joy” ringing throughout Kabul.

The Pentagon confirmed on Monday U.S. time that no American servicemen remained in Afghanistan as the clock turned on midnight in Kabul. Pentagon officials admitted that the administration of President Joe Biden had chosen to leave behind hundreds of American civilians, without providing journalists with a concrete number of those abandoned or any plan to help them. Biden had insisted on departing the country on August 31 regardless of the situation on the ground.

Prior to Biden taking office, former President Donald Trump reached an agreement with the Taliban that required the terrorist group to cut ties with international jihadist organizations like al-Qaeda and cease hostilities against America. In turn, American forces would leave the country by May 1, 2021. In April, shortly before the typical annual Taliban “spring offensive,” Biden announced he would break the deal to prolong the war another four months, through September 11. He since reconfigured the date to August 31.

The Taliban interpreted Biden’s decision to break the deal as a license to violently overrun the country. The group cemented its ouster of the U.S.-backed, extremely corrupt Afghan government with the surrender of Kabul on August 15.

Biden refused to change his August 31 deadline in light of the collapse of the Afghan government, granting the Taliban what it interpreted as a victory for global jihad on Tuesday.

“Our country gained full independence. Praise be to Allah,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said in a statement on Twitter. “Heart-felt congratulations to all countrymen!”

“Tonight we celebrate in style,” the deputy leader of the Taliban “cultural commission,” Ahmadullah Wasiq, said from a Twitter account followed and shared by official spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.

The “style” was largely the takeover of Kabul’s international airport following the last American plane’s departure and a subsequent fireworks display.

Mujahid, the spokesman, issued a clarifying statement on Twitter for Kabul civilians about the extreme noise levels in the city.

“The sounds of gunfire in Kabul are shots of joy at the withdrawal of U.S. troops,” Mujahid claimed. “The voices of shouting are the product of joy.”

Taliban terrorists held further celebrations throughout the country on Tuesday, organizing leadership meetings and flooding the streets with their signature white flags.

At the Kabul airport, the Taliban’s newly debuted “Badri 313” force, designed to look like standard Western military servicemen, took celebratory photos waving the Taliban flag and apparently displaying Western weapons. The group first appeared following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and have featured in propaganda videos appearing to possess firearms and other equipment once belonging to the former Afghan government’s armed forces.

Members of the Taliban Badri 313 military unit take a position at the airport in Kabul on August 31, 2021, after the US has pulled all its troops out of the country to end a brutal 20-year war -- one that started and ended with the hardline Islamist in power. (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR / AFP) (Photo by WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Members of the Taliban Badri 313 military unit take a position at the airport in Kabul on August 31, 2021 (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

In Kandahar, Afghanistan’s second-largest city, pro-Taliban civilians wearing Taliban paraphernalia and waving flags took the streets on Tuesday. Images show entirely men and boys engaging in the celebrations; the Taliban ordered all women in the country to stay home indefinitely last week until Taliban leadership could teach its violent jihadis “how to deal with” them.

Boys wearing a bandana and a cap with the Taliban flag are seen in a march in Kandahar on August 31, 2021, as Taliban supporters celebrate after the US has pulled all its troops out of the country to end a brutal 20-year war -- one that started and ended with the hardline Islamist in power. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Boys wearing a bandana and a cap with the Taliban flag are seen in a march in Kandahar on August 31, 2021, as Taliban supporters celebrate after the US has pulled all its troops out of the country. (AFP via Getty Images)

A Taliban supporter holds a Taliban flag while marching with others along a street in Kandahar on August 31, 2021, as they celebrate after the US has pulled all its troops out of the country to end a brutal 20-year war -- one that started and ended with the hardline Islamist in power. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

A Taliban supporter holds a Taliban flag while marching with others along a street in Kandahar on August 31, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)

TOPSHOT - Youths supporting the Taliban wave Taliban flags atop a vehicle while marching with others along a street in Kandahar on August 31, 2021, as they celebrate after the US has pulled all its troops out of the country to end a brutal 20-year war -- one that started and ended with the hardline Islamist in power. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Youths supporting the Taliban wave Taliban flags atop a vehicle while marching with others along a street in Kandahar on August 31, 2021. (AFP via Getty Images)

Following the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country, the Taliban began to shift on Tuesday away from celebration directly to appealing to America for support. As no nation has recognized the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan, the jihadists have no access to government funds. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank both froze Afghanistan’s reserve assets to prevent the Taliban from accessing them. Taliban spokesman Mujahid urged the world on Tuesday to grant the Taliban legitimacy so that the terrorist group can begin to fundraise and ensure its survival, not excluding America from this request.

“We want all countries in the world, including the United States, to recognize us,” Mujahid told reporters, according to Afghan news network Tolo News. “We are part of the world. We assure you that the soil of Afghanistan will not be used against any country or anyone.”

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