KABUL, Aug 31, 2021 (BSS/XINHUA) - The Taliban welcomed the U.S. withdrawal

from Afghanistan early Tuesday after the last U.S. troops left the Kabul
airport, ending a 20-year invasion war in the Central Asian country.

  "In this way, our country became completely free and independent," Taliban
spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on Twitter.

  The final evacuation flight was conducted on the last hours of Monday
night, 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.

  "The U.S. had withdrawn from Afghanistan after two decades, but the
Americans left a mess in our country," said Khoja Wahid, a Kabul resident.

  "The U.S. is defeated and they are badly defeated," said the 42-year-old
man.

  "As I found in media report early Tuesday that Americans are going to open
Afghanistan's embassy in Qatar. It is showing that the U.S. lost everything
in Afghanistan."

  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said just hours after the final
evacuation flights left Kabul that the United States shifted its diplomatic
operations to Qatar.

  "As of today, we've suspended our diplomatic presence in Kabul and
transferred our operations to Doha, Qatar," the top U.S. diplomat said.

  Another Kabul resident Ahmad Fawad said the U.S. claimed they came to
Afghanistan to ensure peace and security and uphold human rights, but "you
can see their evacuation was not conducted in a responsible manner, as so
many people died, including 13 U.S. soldiers."

  Fawad referred to the suicide bomb blast and gun firing on Aug. 26, which
killed at least 160 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops, and injured nearly 200 others
at a gate of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, when huge
crowds were waiting to board evacuation flights.

  ISIS-K, a local affiliate of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan,
claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

  "Although thousands of Afghan experts and educated people left the country,
and the young generation is still determined to stay in Afghanistan if peace
returned and their safety and security are ensured," he said.

  "Now, it is on the United States, their allies, the UN and countries in the
region to help Afghans in building our future."

  Shortly after Mujahid's comments on social media roughly at 1:00 a.m.
Tuesday local time, Taliban members started celebratory gun firing in the
capital Kabul, which lasted for about an hour, causing panic among local
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 not worry, we are trying to control it."

  The capital city Kabul is calm "like other normal days," but a U.S.
unmanned plane has been spotted flying over the city, witnesses in Kabul told
Xinhua.

  Like many, Salima, a female teacher in Kabul, expressed her hope for
lasting peace in the country, welcoming the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan.

  "At least there is no more pretext for any armed group to continue war and
fighting," she said.

  "Americans did not accomplish what they promised to Afghans. Although I am
also concerned by the ongoing uncertainty, hopefully the situation will get
better eventually, borders will reopen, and the prices are not out of
control. It will take a little time to have everything well," she added.

  The U.S. Central Command announced Monday that the withdrawal of U.S.
troops from Afghanistan has completed, ending the longest war in the U.S.
history.

  "I'm here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and
the end of the mission to evacuate American citizens, third country nationals
and vulnerable Afghans," Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command,
told a news conference in Washington.

  "The last C-17 lifted off from Hamid Karzai International Airport on Aug.
30, this afternoon, at 3:29 p.m. East coast time, and the last manned
aircraft is now clearing the space above Afghanistan," McKenzie said.

  The general said the number of U.S. citizens currently still stranded in
Afghanistan is "in the very low hundreds," stressing that the Department of
State is in charge of assisting those evacuees.

  The United States and its allies speeded up their troops withdrawal from
Afghansitan after the Taliban took control of Kabul on Aug. 15. The U.S.
allies, including Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and
Australia, have pulled out their troops from the war-torn country.

  Claiming to be in pursuit of Osama bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the
9/11 attacks, the U.S.-led military forces invaded Afghanistan and ousted the
Taliban within weeks of the terrorist attacks in 2001.

  Over 2,400 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan over the past two
decades, with 20,000 wounded, according to the Pentagon. Estimates showed
that over 66,000 Afghan troops have been killed, and over 2.7 million people
have had to leave their homes.