Fair Amount of Arms Fallen Into Hands of Taliban, Concedes White House
An Afghan Air Force UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter at Kandahar airfield in Afghanistan
As the Taliban take control of political affairs in Afghanistan, former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who had left the country as the militant group entered Kabul last weekend declared that he had placed security in the hands of the country's troops and that the Taliban were looking for him.
"They were looking for me. What happened in Afghanistan 25 years ago was going to happen again. That was something that needed to be avoided. A shameful development like that needed to be avoided," Ghani said in a video message.
Meanwhile, the US and other nations continued to evacuate their officials from Hamid Karzai international airport with people in Kabul slowly coming out on the streets to start their life under the new regime.
The Taliban is also setting up the political landscape in the country as reports claimed senior Taliban members had met former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and top official Abdullah Abdullah.
Taliban's co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar returned to Afghanistan landing in the militant organization's spiritual birthplace Kandahar amid efforts to form a new government in the country
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan conceded that "fair amount" of US equipment had fallen into the hands of the Taliban after videos emerged of Taliban fighters parading US-made armoured vehicles on social media.
"We don't have a complete picture, obviously, of where every article of defence materials has gone. But certainly, a fair amount of it has fallen into the hands of the Taliban," White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said.
The Taliban had declared on Tuesday that they would honour women's rights, although they had added that it should be within the norms of Islamic law.
Suhail Shaheen, Taliban's spokesperson in Doha's political office had said that women "can get education from primary to higher education -- that means university. We have announced this policy at international conferences, the Moscow conference and here at the Doha conference (on Afghanistan)."
Uploaded on Twitter by author David Patrikarakos, the video shows a female journalist, asking few Taliban members if they would be willing to accept democratic governance that voted in female politicians.
Under the militants' hardline 1996-2001 rule, girls' schools were closed, women were prevented from travelling and working, and women were forced to wear an all-covering burqa in public.
On the chaos witnessed since Monday amid the pull out, the US President speaking to a US network said: "We're gonna go back in hindsight and look -- but the idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing, I don't know how that happens. I don't know how that happened."
Biden conceded that America is experiencing "more difficulty" in getting those people who helped the country during the operations.
"They're cooperating, letting American citizens get out, American personnel get out, embassies get out. We're having some more difficulty having those who helped us when we were in there," the US president said.
As US troops continued to pull out from Afghanistan, President Joe Biden said US troops won't leave any Americans behind even if it means staying in Taliban-controlled Kabul for longer than agreed.
"They're cooperating, letting American citizens get out, American personnel get out, embassies get out," the US president said.
On the chaos that ensured on Monday as US officials reached Hamid Karzai international airport to head to the US, the president said: "The idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing -- I don't know how that happens.
SITE monitoring group said on Wednesday that senior Taliban members met former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai and top official Abdullah Abdullah.
Abdullah had led the government's peace council during failed talks between the warring sides in Qatar.
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