The Taliban has begun the process of forming a government in Afghanistan, after taking control of the capital Kabul and declaring that the war is over as Afghan forces surrendered and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country.
Despite two decades of US military presence in Afghanistan, and a war that cost over a trillion US dollars, Taliban insurgents arrived at the gates of Kabul on Sunday and took the capital, installing themselves in the presidential palace with little resistance.
“Today is a great day for the Afghan people and the mujahideen [Taliban],” said Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem on Monday. “They have witnessed the fruits of their efforts and their sacrifices for 20 years. Thanks to God, the war is over in the country.”
The fall of Kabul to the Taliban on Sunday had followed weeks of fighting between insurgents and Afghan forces across Afghanistan after the swift pull out of US forces this summer. In recent weeks, key cities and regions across the country had fallen to the Taliban at unprecedented speed, and the capture of Kabul sealed their control over Afghanistan.
Naeem said the Taliban would now begin the process of forming a government and would work for a peaceful transition of power, both domestically and internationally, and would aim to maintain international diplomatic ties. “We ask all countries and entities to sit with us to settle any issues,” he said.
Many Afghan leaders in cities across the country formally handed over power to the Taliban and the group is expected to formally proclaim a new Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in the coming days.
Afghan leaders, led by former president Hamid Karzai, said they had created a coordination council to meet with the Taliban and manage the transfer of the power.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy commander and chief negotiator who has been in peace negotiations with the Afghan government in Doha, Qatar since last year, said the Taliban wanted to build an “an open, inclusive Islamic government”.
Baradar was among those who expressed surprise at how quickly the country had fallen under Taliban control. “Now is the time when we will be tested on how we serve and secure our people, and ensure their good life and future to the best of our ability,” he said.
The decision on who will become president will be decided after a shura, consultation, between top Taliban leadership but Baradar, the group’s most public face who oversaw the signing of the agreement for the US troop withdrawal, has been touted as a likely candidate for a key role.
Taliban fighters had been ordered to show “humility” and not harm any civilians or property as they entered Kabul and took up posts across the capital previously occupied by police and Afghan security forces.
President Ghani flew out of the country on Sunday night, stating that he wanted to avoid any more bloodshed. “If I had stayed, countless countrymen would have been martyred and Kabul city would have been ruined,” he wrote in a post on Facebook. Hours later, Taliban commanders, laden with arms, were photographed standing behind Ghani’s desk in the presidential palace, where they had been escorted inside by a government official.
Despite the Taliban’s claims to want peace for Afghanistan, many Afghans fear the Taliban will return to the cruel and repressive practices that defined their previous period in power between 1996 and 2001. They enforced a strict interpretation of sharia, Islamic religious law, which meant women were banned from schools and workplaces and forced to cover up their face and body if they left the house, while archaic punishments such as stoning, whipping and hanging were applied to those who violated the draconian laws.
In some regions recently captured by the Taliban, women have already been prevented from attending schools and universities and banned from leaving the house without a male escort.
In Kabul, many began bracing themselves for life under strict Islamic rule. “My first concern was to grow my beard and how to grow it fast. I also checked with my wife if there were enough burqas for her and the girls,” Gul Mohammed Hakim, one the city’s ubiquitous naan bread makers told Reuters.
In deeply humiliating scenes for the Biden administration, smoke spiralled from the US embassy compound as staff hastily destroyed documents and personnel were airlifted to the airport by military helicopters, less than a month before the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America. The American flag was also lowered and removed from the embassy compound.
The US appeared stunned by the pace of the surrender and collapse of Afghan military forces in the face of the Taliban insurgency. Another 1,000 US troops will be sent directly to Kabul in coming days in an attempt to execute the safe withdrawal of US nationals and Afghan support staff.
It was also revealed that on Sunday, the head of the US Central Command, General Kenneth McKenzie, had met with Taliban representatives to urge them not to attack Kabul airport.
The UN security council held an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss Afghanistan. Addressing the meeting, UN secretary general Antonio Guterres urged “all parties, especially the Taliban, to exercise utmost restraint to protect lives and to ensure that humanitarian needs are met.”