The bombing occurred on August 26, 2021, as US troops were trying to help Americans and Afghans flee in the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban’s takeover.
KABUL, August 31 : The Taliban joyously fired guns into the air and offered words of reconciliation on Tuesday, as they celebrated defeating the United States and returning to power after two decades of war that devastated Afghanistan.
The last of 6,000 US troops who oversaw a desperate evacuation effort flew out of Kabul airport on Monday night, ending the war that has diminished the United States' status as a superpower.
Taliban fighters quickly swept into the airport and fired weapons into the sky in jubilation, an astonishing return after US forces invaded in 2001 and toppled the hardline Islamists for supporting Al-Qaeda.
"Congratulations to Afghanistan... this victory belongs to us all," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters hours later from the runway of the airport. Mujahid said the Taliban's victory was a "lesson for other invaders".
However the Taliban have repeatedly promised a more tolerant and open brand of rule compared with their first stint in power, and Mujahid continued that theme.
"We want to have good relations with the US and the world. We welcome good diplomatic relations with them all," he said.
Many Afghans are terrified of a repeat of the Taliban's initial rule from 1996-2001, which was infamous for their treatment of girls and women, as well as a brutal justice system.
- Terror threat -
The withdrawal came just before the end of an August 31 deadline set by President Joe Biden to call time on America's longest war -- one that ultimately claimed the lives of more than 2,400 US service members.
The early finish followed a threat from the regional offshoot of the Islamic State group, rivals of the Taliban, which was seeking to attack the US forces at the airport.
Thirteen US troops were among more than 100 people killed when an IS suicide bomber late last week attacked the perimeter of the airport, where desperate Afghans had massed in the hope of getting on board an evacuation flight.
More than 123,000 people were evacuated from Kabul aboard the US-led airlift operation, which began just after the Taliban swept into the capital on August 14.
Biden said he would address the nation on Tuesday in Washington, as his critics continued to savage him for his handling of the withdrawal.
"We can't fight endless wars, but the scope & consequence of Biden's failure here is staggering," Republican Senator Rick Scott said.
"President Biden has brought great shame on the American people," added congressman Richard Hudson.
Biden's top diplomat, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, was able to offer little more than stern words for the Taliban.
"Any legitimacy and any support will have to be earned," Blinken said, as he announced the United States had suspended its diplomatic presence in Kabul and shifted its operations to Qatar.
- Airport uncertainty -
All eyes will now turn to how the Taliban handles its first few days with sole authority over the country, with a sharp focus on whether it will allow other foreigners and Afghans to leave the country.
Blinken said a small number of US citizens remained in the country -- "under 200" but likely closer to just 100 -- and wanted to leave.
Many thousands of other Afghans who had worked with the US-backed government and fear retribution also want to get out.
Western allies have voiced heartbreak in recent days that not all Afghans who wanted to flee could get on the evacuation flights.
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Monday, requiring the Taliban to honour a commitment to let people freely leave Afghanistan in the days ahead, and to grant access to the UN and other aid agencies.
But they did not agree to call for the creation of a "safe zone" in Kabul, as envisaged by French President Emmanuel Macron.
Talks are ongoing as to who will now run Kabul airport. The Taliban have asked Turkey to handle logistics while they maintain control of security, but President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not yet accepted that offer. It was not immediately clear which airlines would agree to fly in and out of Kabul.
- Civilian deaths -
The regional Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) group had posed the biggest threat to the withdrawal after it carried out the devastating suicide bombing outside the airport last week.
On Monday, they also claimed to have fired six rockets at the airport. A Taliban official said the attack was intercepted by the airport's missile defence systems.
And in an echo of the tragedies of civilian deaths that plagued the war and cost the United States local support, a US air strike in Kabul targeting a purported IS car bomb on the weekend appeared to have killed children.
The United States said Sunday it had carried out a drone strike against a vehicle threatening the Kabul airport.
Members of one family told AFP they believed a fatal error had been made, and that 10 civilians were killed.
"My brother and his four children were killed. I lost my small daughter... nephews and nieces," Aimal Ahmadi told AFP.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told initial reports did not indicate any US casualties from the latest rocket attack, but that information could change.
US President Joe Biden is heading to Dover Air Force Base to attend the “dignified transfer” of the remains of 13 US troops who were killed in the Kabul attack.
Two suicide bombers and gunmen attacked crowds of Afghans flocking to Kabul’s airport Thursday, transforming a scene of desperation into one of horror in the waning days of an airlift for those fleeing the Taliban takeover. The attacks killed at least 60 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops, Afghan and U.S. officials said.
The US military pulled off its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan by far on Monday, but deadly violence that has blocked many desperate evacuees from entering Kabul's airport persisted, and the Taliban signaled they might soon seek to shut down the airlifts.
LONDON, August 23: Britain said Monday it would urge the United States at a virtual G7 summit to extend an end-of-the-month deadline to complete evacuations of Western citizens and Afghan colleagues from Kabul.
US President Joe Biden has set an August 31 deadline for the chaotic airlift organised by thousands of temporarily deployed US troops but has left the door open to an extension if needed.
Armed forces minister James Heappey and other UK officials told British media that they would push for an extension at Tuesday's online leaders meeting of the G7 group of wealthy nations while acknowledging that the Taliban would have a crucial say now that they control Afghanistan.
Heappey said it is a "hard reality" that the evacuations from Afghanistan's capital could only be maintained beyond August 31 if led by the United States.
"Whether or not the US can be persuaded to stay is a matter for the prime minister (Boris Johnson) tomorrow in the G7 meeting," Heappey told Sky News, referring to an extension of the deadline.
Britain currently chairs the G7, also comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
"I think everybody has to be clear that this is not just a discussion that happens between G7 leaders tomorrow, it is a discussion which happens with the Taliban," he added.
"The Taliban will have a choice, they can either seek to engage with the international community and show that they want to be a part of the international system.
"Or they can turn around and say there is no opportunity for an extension."
Foreign Office minister James Cleverly told BBC Radio Sunday night that his government would appeal for the extension at the G7.
"Obviously the more time that we've got, the more people we can evacuate and that's what we're pushing for," Cleverly said.
Britain, which has deployed 1,000 soldiers to aid its airlift efforts, is pushing for longer to get everybody out who qualifies, with the trans-Atlantic allies' defence ministers speaking by phone Sunday.
London has so far evacuated 5,725 people from Kabul since August 13, including more than than 3,100 Afghans and their families, according to the Ministry of Defence.
Heappey said early Monday it expects a further nine flights to depart over the next 24 hours.
He told Times radio that Afghans who are eligible for asylum in the West were also fleeing the country overland and showing up at embassies in neighbouring countries like Pakistan.
The first US troops are arriving in Afghanistan to help diplomatic staff and others leave, as many countries scramble to evacuate workers and citizens amid a rapid Taliban advance.
