Journalist stays with Taliban fighters as they enter Kabul airport hangar



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A reporter stayed with several Taliban fighters who were seen entering a hangar at Kabul airport to examine Chinook helicopters left behind after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to a report.

Gunshots could apparently be heard as several Taliban fighters wielding US-supplied military equipment and weapons casually stroll around the hangar, which was previously under US control, according to a video posted Monday by the foreign correspondent. of the Los Angeles Times Nabih Bulos.

“We are here right now with the Taliban as they enter… which was only a few minutes ago… part of the US-controlled military airport,” Bulos said, walking with the fighters in the video. “Now they’ve taken over. “

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Taliban fighters from the Fateh Zwak unit, armed with US-supplied weapons, equipment and uniforms, storm Kabul International Airport to secure the airport and inspect equipment left behind. spot after the U.S. military completes its withdrawal, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, August 31, 2021. (MARCUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES)

Taliban fighters from the Fateh Zwak unit, armed with US-supplied weapons, equipment and uniforms, storm Kabul International Airport to secure the airport and inspect equipment left behind. spot after the U.S. military completes its withdrawal, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, August 31, 2021. (MARCUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES)

Bulos did not immediately respond to a late-night request for comment from Fox News.

Earlier Monday, the Pentagon announced that all US troops had left Afghanistan. The last members of the C-17 transport service departed the airport at 3:29 p.m. EST.

The US troop withdrawal met the August 31 deadline that the Biden administration agreed with the Taliban – officially ending America’s longest war.

Bulos then posted another video of Taliban fighters celebrating the US withdrawal by firing tracer bullets into the night sky over Kabul.

“There is a great deal of grief associated with this departure,” said CENTCOM commander General Kenneth McKenzie of the closure of evacuation operations. “We didn’t get everyone out we wanted to get out.”

The general added that ISIS’s threat to the operation was “very real” until the end, with “overwhelming” US air power flying over the skies in an attempt to prevent further attacks.

He said a number of US citizens, likely numbering “several hundred”, have been left behind, although he believes they will still be able to leave the country.

In addition to those left behind in Kabul, McKenzie said the United States also left behind equipment such as the C-RAM (Counter Artillery, Artillery and Mortar) system which was used to bring down rockets, as well as dozens of armored Humvees. and a few planes. The general noted that the equipment had been deactivated and none of them were mission capable.

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The United States has provided approximately $ 83 billion in training and equipment – including planes, armored vehicles, rifles and tactical equipment – to the Afghan military and security forces.

After the withdrawal of US troops, retired 2-star Army General Vincent Boles told Fox News that the Taliban shouldn’t be too comfortable.

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“Be careful what you ask for,” Boles said. “Now they have to show that they can rule a nation and a people that are very different from what they were when they left power. Will the Taliban move forward or bring Afghanistan back? in the past? The answer will be in their behavior… the behavior is believable. “

Fox News’s Tyler O’Neil and Michael Lee contributed to this report

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