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The Taliban today celebrated Afghanistan's Independence Day by declaring it had beaten the United States.
But a battery of challenges ranging from facing opposition from foreign powers and civilians to worries about food shortages have emerged.
Meanwhile, Afghans sent a desperate plea to America today asking for more evacuation flights to help them flee the Taliban.
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A barrage of challenges continue to befall on the Taliban, which celebrated Afghanistan's Independence Day today. The Taliban said their "jihadi resistance" made the United States fail and retreat from what they described as their sacred homeland.
A bit of panic ensued today due to sporadic ATM access and worries about food shortages across the nation of 38 million people reliant on imports.
That had the head of the World Food Program in Afghanistan warning a humanitarian crisis is beginning to unfold.
Officials of the ousted government remain hiding in their homes or attempting to flee.
Despite the Taliban pledging to uphold human rights in the country, witnessing Taliban fighters squelching protesters yesterday in the eastern city of Jalalabad firsthand, spoke volumes.
The same went for a protest in the city of Khost, where militants put in place a 24-hour provincial curfew. They did not immediately acknowledge the incident, nor the provincial curfew.
Fearing for their lives and worried they might never be allowed to enter a classroom again, educated young women appealed to the Biden administration to get them on evacuation flights as the U.S. struggled to maintain order in the ongoing chaos at Kabul International Airport.
President Joe Biden and his top officials said the U.S. was working to speed up the evacuation, but didn't set the record straight as to how long it would take to fly those in need to safety.
To date, nearly 6,000 people had been evacuated by the U.S. military.
Despite having changed their stance towards female education, what the Taliban did in the past didn't sit well with foreign powers. As such, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today cast doubt on Taliban's treatment of women down the line, but said America's sympathies are with Afghan women and that Americans will continue to fight for their cause.
"Quite frankly, I think some of the support for our presence in Afghanistan across the country sprang from the interest of the American people of the state of women and girls in Afghanistan. So, we have to make this subject of the greatest transparency, shining the biggest, brightest light on what the Taliban may do." Said Pelosi.
Meantime, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who fled the country days ago, appeared on social media today. The ousted President defended his decision to leave the country, saying his life was in imminent danger, and that it was for the sake of his fellow citizens.
His current location is no longer shrouded in secrecy, as the United Arab Emirates had accepted the President and his family on "humanitarian grounds."
Ghani also squelched rumours that he carried a large amount of cash with him.
He said he had come to terms with the latest in Afghanistan and is considering returning to the country.
For now, negotiations between the Taliban and officials of the ousted government about power transfer continue. But only cooler heads prevail. Peaceful negotiations are instrumental in reaching an agreement.
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