Taking Black Hawk on victory flight, Taliban parade plundered US hardware

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — A Black Hawk helicopter flew circles over the Taliban’s spiritual heartland in southern Afghanistan Wednesday while fighters below stood aboard captured Humvees as the Islamists paraded their plundered US military hardware.

The Taliban’s victory lap, celebrating the final withdrawal of US troops, follows the group’s astonishing two-week takeover that capped a simmering 20-year insurgency.

On the highway towards Afghanistan’s second-biggest city of Kandahar, a long line of green armored fighting vehicles drove in single file, most with white-and-black Taliban flags attached to aerials.

Fighters manned the controls of the multi-purpose trucks — used by US, NATO and Afghan forces during the two-decade war — while others clambered over the vehicles at Ayno Maina, a town on the outskirts of the city.

Among the light weapons cradled by the militants were American M16 rifles.

Pick-up trucks laden with supporters rolled past the convoy of military vehicles, some armed with heavy weapons and machine guns.

Taliban fighters atop Humvee vehicles parade along a road to celebrate after the US pulled all its troops out of Afghanistan, in Kandahar on September 1, 2021 (JAVED TANVEER / AFP)

At least one Black Hawk helicopter buzzed overhead, suggesting someone from the former Afghan army was at the controls as the Taliban lack qualified pilots.

An ethnic Pashtun heartland, Kandahar is the birthplace of the Taliban and where the hardline group rose to power in 1996. By 2001, when US-led forces invaded, the Taliban had seized control of most of the country.

At Kandahar Cricket Ground, hundreds gathered to listen to speeches heaping praise on the Taliban following their successful offensive last month and pouring scorn on the United States.

VIDEO: ???????? The Taliban showcase some of the military hardware they captured during their takeover of #Afghanistan outside #Kandahar — the spiritual birthplace of the militant movement — after the final US troops left the country pic.twitter.com/pKTZBYDl6x

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) September 1, 2021

Elder leaders sat in the shade in the players’ dugout, reclining on armchairs behind wooden coffee tables.

Others sat crossed-legged on the grass, while many more gathered in the terrace stands to watch.

Armed fighters in camouflage fatigues stood in front of the crowds.

Taliban fighters atop Humvee vehicles parade along a road to celebrate after the US pulled all its troops out of Afghanistan, in Kandahar on September 1, 2021 following the Talibans military takeover of the country. (JAVED TANVEER / AFP)

“Our common enemy who vowed to bring economic prosperity to our land failed to do so,” a Taliban recruiter named Saqeb said.

“They claimed to bring a civilized system. Go and take a look at the airport where all the planes are left in the middle.

“America did not just attack our young military men. America has corrupted our media. It took away our culture. It has trampled our economy.”

The Taliban’s secretive supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada is living in Kandahar, the group said Sunday, after years in the shadows.

Word had spread that he would make an appearance Wednesday, but he did not show up, leaving the city’s new governor to address the crowd.

And finally… a U.S. UH-60 Black Hawk flies with the Taliban flag. pic.twitter.com/ABiD3Rm4Bx

— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) September 1, 2021

In footage posted online of the build-up to the event, another helicopter flew overhead trailing a Taliban flag as fighters in headscarves waved beneath.

A day earlier, thousands of Taliban faithful had poured onto the streets of Kandahar, waving flags and shouting “God is greatest” in celebration of the final US withdrawal.