PICTURED: Taliban flag is painted at the entrance to the former US embassy in Kabul as the militant group consolidates its hold over the country
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A Taliban flag was painted on the walls outside the former US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, photos show. The flag appeared to have been painted in the past few days, and was shared by photojournalist Jake Simkin on Monday.
Murals outside the former US embassy in Kabul have been painted over white with black Arabic text since the US pulled out of the country last week. The embassy was abandoned by US diplomats on August 15 as the city fell to the militant group amid America’s chaotic withdrawal from the country.
Embassy operations have since been moved to Doha, the capital of Qatar, and are focused chiefly on processing immigrant visas for refugees. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on August 30, after the last US troops had left the country, that he anticipated the embassy would remain closed for the foreseeable future.
The entrance to the embassy as it appeared on August 26, in the lead-up to the full US withdrawal from the country on August 30.
Meanwhile the Taliban continued to consolidate its power over the country, and was seen Monday raising its flag outside its new ‘headquarters’ in Panjshir province – the last holdout of anti-Taliban forces in Afghanistan since the group’s blitz across the country last month.
Ahmad Massoud (pictured center in 2019), the leader of the Afghan National Resistance Front called on Afghans to ‘begin a national uprising for the dignity, freedom and prosperity of our country’ as he appeared to admit defeat. The Taliban claim he has fled to Turkey. If it is proven true that Massoud, 32 – the son of legendary freedom fighter Ahmad Shah, the ‘Lion of the Panjshir’ – it will surely be a hammer blow to any remaining resistance fighters in the province.
Meanwhile, the US State Department has been accused of blocking dozens of Americans from fleeing Afghanistan after failing to tell the Taliban it had green-lighted charter flights for Americans and Afghan visa holders trying to flee the country.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he gets ready to board an aircraft from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to travel to Doha on Sunday evening for Afghan talks.
Texas Republican Representative Michael McCaul said on Sunday that there are at least six planes holding Americans that are being prevented by the Taliban from taking off from the Mazar Sharif Airport in Afghanistan.
Since their takeover, the Taliban have sought to recast themselves as different from their 1990s incarnation, when they last ruled the country and imposed repressive restrictions across society. Women and girls were denied work and education, men were forced to grow beards, and television and music were banned.
Now, the world is waiting to see the face of the new government, and many Afghans remain skeptical. In the weeks since they took power, signals have been mixed: Government employees including women have been asked to return to work, but some women were later ordered home by lower-ranking Taliban. Universities and schools have been ordered open, but fear has kept both students and teachers away.