Pentagon says weapon left in Kabul does not work 1:52
(CNN) -
The Taliban displayed dozens of American-made armored vehicles along with newly seized weapons on Wednesday at victory celebrations in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
In videos posted on social media, the Taliban showed the material left behind by the forces of Afghanistan and the United States after the withdrawal of the last US troops left the country in the hands of the militant group.
The Taliban celebrate the withdrawal of US forces in Kandahar.
Credit: STRINGER / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Fighters waved white Taliban flags from Humvees and armored SUVs in the military parade, in which many of the vehicles appeared to be in near mint condition.
The Taliban also staged an airshow with a recently seized Blackhawk helicopter that passed in front of the militants along the road while dragging a white Taliban flag.
The parade came a day after video showed militants making their way through an abandoned hangar at Kabul airport, crammed with material left behind by the United States.
In one video, militants dressed in American-style uniforms and carrying American-made weapons examined a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter parked in a hangar.
It also showed Taliban fighters posing for photographs sitting in the cockpits of planes and helicopters that once belonged to the Afghan Air Force.
Taliban find US helicopters left in Kabul 0:45
But Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told CNN on Tuesday that he was not "overly concerned by these images" of Taliban fighters examining the abandoned planes.
"They can inspect all they want," Kirby said.
"They can look at them, they can walk around ... but they can't pilot them. They can't operate them."
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Kirby added that the US military had "disabled all the equipment at the airport: all the planes, all the ground vehicles," leaving only some fire trucks and forklifts operational.
When could Kabul airport reopen?
Efforts to reopen Kabul airport resumed on Wednesday with the arrival in the Afghan capital of a team of Qatari technical experts, a source with knowledge of the situation told CNN.
Taliban supporters gather to hear from the Taliban governor of Kandahar province.
Credits: STRINGER / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
The source said that the technical team traveled to Kabul on a Qatari plane at the request of the Taliban, and that although a final agreement has not yet been reached, "talks are still underway at the security and operational level."
"The goal is to resume flights in and out of Kabul for humanitarian assistance and freedom of movement safely."
Afghanistan relies heavily on foreign aid, and the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) have already struggled to get critical food and medical supplies to the airport amidst the mass evacuation operation.
The Kabul airlift ended, but a US operation to remove 14,000 people from a base in Germany is far from over.
Even before the political turmoil of recent weeks, Afghanistan represented the world's third largest humanitarian concern, with more than 18 million people in need of help, according to UNICEF.
However, since commercial aircraft are not currently allowed to land in Kabul, it will be difficult to get help to reach them.
The resumption of commercial flights will also be crucial for people who still want to leave the country but have not managed to get on military evacuation planes.
More than 123,000 people have been evacuated by US and coalition aircraft since Aug. 14, General Frank McKenzie of the US Central Command said Monday.
Situation in Afghanistan, minute by minute: "I was not going to extend a war forever," Biden said
A Taliban fighter parades with seized US weapons in Kandahar.
Credits: STRINGER / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock (12398363ak)
The Taliban have vowed to rule more moderately this time, and have said they will continue to allow foreigners and Afghans with proper documentation to leave the country after August 31.
Yet many Afghans are skeptical of his claims, and huge questions hang over the Taliban's ability to rule the country.
Standing on the runway at Kabul airport on Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a small crowd: "This victory belongs to all of us."
Beside him were heavily armed fighters from the Taliban's Badri 313 special forces brigade, dressed in camouflage uniforms and booties.
Mujahid congratulated the Taliban fighters who had lined up, and indeed "the entire nation."
One region continues to resist Taliban rule
Only one Afghan region continues to resist Taliban rule: the Panjshir Valley, a strategic piece of territory about 90 miles north of Kabul that was a stronghold of the Mujahideen fighting the Soviets and is now the headquarters of the movement. resistance.
The Taliban have yet to capture all of Afghanistan.
A province has promised to resist
Ali Nazary, spokesman for the Afghanistan National Anti-Taliban Resistance Front (NRF), said Wednesday that NRF forces had inflicted heavy casualties on Taliban aggressors attempting to break through to Panjshir through the area of Gulbahar, damaging the weaponry of the militant group and causing them to retreat.
"The negotiations have stopped, they have reached a stalemate," Nazary said.
"They have tried to attack from two directions, one from the north and one from the south."
CNN could not independently verify the intensity of the fighting or the total number of casualties on both sides.
The emergency hospital, a surgical center for war victims in Kabul, said on Twitter that it had received five wounded patients and four people killed upon arrival after the fighting in Gulbahar.
The Taliban high command has not acknowledged the existence of heavy fighting in the region.
In an audio message released on Wednesday, Amir Khan Muttaqi, one of the Taliban leaders, called on the panjshiris to accept an amnesty and avoid fighting, but acknowledged that the negotiations had not produced any results so far.
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