ANKARA: Taliban on Wednesday marked the third anniversary of their return to power with a military parade at a former US airbase in Kabul.
Fighter aircraft and helicopters flew over the Bagram base located 40 kilometers north of Kabul, while the armed forces displayed US-made armoured personnel carriers, Soviet-era tanks and other artillery equipment.
According to local media thousands of people, including senior Taliban officials, acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, acting Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob and diplomats, including Chinese and Iranian witnessed the parade.
The Bagram base was once used by the US-led forces for their operations against the Taliban while hundreds of the Taliban members were also detained there for years.
Deputy Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir addressing the parade, reiterated that neither any country will be allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan nor would the Afghan soil be used against any country.
Earlier, interim Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund in his message, said that the responsibility of the “Islamic Emirate” towards Afghans has not ended and that efforts will continue to sustain the regime and bring stability to the country.
Akhund said Mujahideen, officials, and the entire faithful must be aware that our duty did not end with the victory in jihad. “We now have the responsibility to strengthen the regime, rebuild the country, protect the people’s property and honor, and compensate for the damage caused by previous wars,” he said.
The Taliban returned to power in Kabul in August 2021, after an abrupt pullout of the US-led forces after two decades of war.
