Kabul (Afganistan), August 31: The Taliban welcomed the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan shortly after the U.S. Central Command announced that the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Asian country has completed, a Taliban spokesman said early Tuesday.
The last U.S. soldiers were evacuated from Kabul airport at mid-night on Monday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on social media platform twitter.
"In this way, our country became completely free and independent," he said.
The final evacuation flight was conducted on the last hours of Monday night Aug. 30, airlifting the last U.S. military and non-military personnel back home one day before the Aug. 31 deadline set by U.S. President Joe Biden.
Shortly after Mujahid's comments on social media roughly at 1:00 a.m. Tuesday local time, Taliban members started celebratory gun firing in Afghan capital Kabul, which lasted for about an hour, causing panic in Kabul residents.
Following the firing, Mujahid said in a separate tweet that "the gunshots heard in Kabul are as a result of celebratory firing, the Kabul residents should no worry, we are trying to control it."
The formal stance of the Taliban about the U.S. withdrawal is yet to be made amid the absence of any statement.
Source: Xinhua