Taliban celebrate anniversary of foreign troop withdrawal | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Saturday
May 31, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Epaper
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Banking
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2025
Taliban celebrate anniversary of foreign troop withdrawal

South Asia

BSS/AFP
31 August, 2022, 12:20 pm
Last modified: 31 August, 2022, 12:29 pm

Related News

  • Pakistan to upgrade diplomatic ties with Afghanistan in easing of tensions
  • Kabul says ready for 'dialogue' with US on Afghan refugees
  • Taliban suspends chess in Afghanistan over gambling concerns
  • Bombing in a former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban kills 7 people and wounds 16
  • From destroyers to guardians? Taliban now vow to protect Afghanistan’s ancient relics

Taliban celebrate anniversary of foreign troop withdrawal

BSS/AFP
31 August, 2022, 12:20 pm
Last modified: 31 August, 2022, 12:29 pm
A man holds a gun as Taliban supporters celebrate the first anniversary of the departure of U.S. forces from Afghanistan on a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Ali Khara
A man holds a gun as Taliban supporters celebrate the first anniversary of the departure of U.S. forces from Afghanistan on a street in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 30, 2022. REUTERS/Ali Khara

The Taliban declared Wednesday a national holiday and lit up the capital with coloured lights to celebrate the first anniversary of the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan after a brutal 20-year war.

The country's new rulers -- not formally recognised by any other nation – have reimposed their harsh version of Islamic law on the impoverished country, with women squeezed out of public life.

But despite the restrictions, and a deepening humanitarian crisis, many Afghans say they are glad the foreign force that prompted the Taliban insurgency has gone.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"We are happy that Allah got rid of the infidels from our country, and the Islamic Emirate has been established," said Zalmai, a resident of Kabul.

The withdrawal of troops at midnight as August 31 began last year ended America's longest war -- a military intervention that began in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York.

Some 66,000 Afghan troops and 48,000 civilians were killed in the conflict, but it was the deaths of US service members -- 2,461 in total -- that became too much for the American public to bear.

More than 3,500 troops from other NATO countries were also killed.

"The burden of the war in Afghanistan, however, went beyond Americans," the US military said Tuesday.

Two weeks before the end of last year's withdrawal, the Taliban seized power following a lightning offensive against government forces.

Banners celebrating victories against three empires -- the former Soviet Union and Britain also lost wars in Afghanistan -- were flying in Kabul on Wednesday.

Hundreds of white Taliban flags bearing the Islamic proclamation of faith flew from lamposts and government buildings.

Late Tuesday, the skies above Kabul were lit up with fireworks and celebratory gunfire from crowds of Taliban fighters.

In Massoud Square, near the former US embassy, armed fighters carrying Taliban flags chanted "Death to America". Others drove across the city honking their horns.

Flaunting equipment 

Taliban social media accounts posted scores of videos and pictures of newly trained troops -- many flaunting the US military equipment left behind in the haste of Washington's chaotic withdrawal.

"This is how you troll a superpower after humiliating them and forcing them to withdraw from your country," read the caption of one post on Twitter featuring a photo of a giant Taliban flag now painted on the wall of the former US embassy.

Despite the Taliban's pride in taking over, Afghanistan's 38 million people now face a desperate humanitarian crisis -- aggravated after billions of dollars in assets were frozen and foreign aid dried up.

Hardships for ordinary Afghans, especially women, have increased.

The Taliban have shut secondary girls' schools in many provinces and barred women from many government jobs.

They have also ordered women to fully cover up in public -- ideally with an all-encompassing burqa.

"Now I'm sitting at home without a job," said Oranoos Omerzai, a resident of Kandahar, the de facto power centre of the Taliban.

Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid insisted "major achievements" had been recorded in the past year.

"Afghans are no more being killed in war, foreign forces have withdrawn, and security has improved," he told reporters last week.

 

 

World+Biz

Taliban / Afghanistan / US troop withdrawal

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • TBS Sketches
    Inflation, investor doubts and uncertainty: Can the FY26 budget steady the ship?
  •  CA Yunus invites BNP again for talks at Jamuna on 2 June: Salahuddin Ahmed
    CA Yunus invites BNP again for talks at Jamuna on 2 June: Salahuddin Ahmed
  • BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury spoke at a roundtable on "Bangladesh's Geopolitical Security: Perspectives on the Humanitarian Corridor" organised by the Center for Governance and Security Analysis in the capital today (31 May). Photo: TBS
    Corridor discussions still ongoing despite govt denials: Khasru

MOST VIEWED

  • BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
    BAT Bangladesh has to vacate Mohakhali HQ as SC rejects lease appeal
  • Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus speaks to Nikkei Asia in Tokyo on 29 May. Photo: Nikkei Asia
    Bangladesh ready to buy more US cotton, oil to reduce trade gap: Yunus
  • UCB approves 2024 financials, allocates entire profit to NPL provisions
    UCB approves 2024 financials, allocates entire profit to NPL provisions
  • Tax exemptions for key industries to go, sweeping tax hikes planned
    Tax exemptions for key industries to go, sweeping tax hikes planned
  • Matarbari 1,200MW coal-fired plant in Moheshkhali, Cox's Bazar. File Photo: Nupa Alam/TBS
    Supplier slapped with 5 conditions to unload rejected Matarbari coal shipment
  • US Embassy Dhaka. Picture: Courtesy
    Birth tourism not permitted on US visitor visa: US Embassy Dhaka

Related News

  • Pakistan to upgrade diplomatic ties with Afghanistan in easing of tensions
  • Kabul says ready for 'dialogue' with US on Afghan refugees
  • Taliban suspends chess in Afghanistan over gambling concerns
  • Bombing in a former stronghold of Pakistani Taliban kills 7 people and wounds 16
  • From destroyers to guardians? Taliban now vow to protect Afghanistan’s ancient relics

Features

Babar Ali, Ikramul Hasan Shakil, and Wasfia Nazreen are leading a bold resurgence in Bangladeshi mountaineering, scaling eight-thousanders like Everest, Annapurna I, and K2. Photos: Collected

Back to 8000 metres: How Bangladesh’s mountaineers emerged from a decade-long pause

1d | Panorama
Photos: Courtesy

Behind the looks: Bangladeshi designers shaping celebrity fashion

1d | Mode
Photo collage of the sailors and their catch. Photos: Shahid Sarkar

Between sky and sea: The thrilling life afloat on a fishing ship

1d | Features
For hundreds of small fishermen living near this delicate area, sustainable fishing is a necessity for their survival. Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain

World Ocean Day: Bangladesh’s ‘Silent Island’ provides a fisheries model for the future

2d | The Big Picture

More Videos from TBS

Which way will the job crisis take the Chinese young generation?

Which way will the job crisis take the Chinese young generation?

31m | Others
What did Hasnat say about the NCP's seat sharing in the elections?

What did Hasnat say about the NCP's seat sharing in the elections?

1h | TBS Today
Dr. Yunus invited BNP for discussions on June 2: Salahuddin

Dr. Yunus invited BNP for discussions on June 2: Salahuddin

1h | TBS Today
What did Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya say about the budget for the fiscal year 2025-26?

What did Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya say about the budget for the fiscal year 2025-26?

1h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net