The last U.S. military plane left the airport and disappeared into the Kabul sky on Monday - and minutes later, Taliban filled the streets around the city's final exit, filling the night with lively gunfire.
It was the last decisive and humbling chapter in the longest war in the United States, the twentieth anniversary of a dramatic discovery in a matter of weeks.
Standing on the runway on Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid drafted Afghanistan's takeover as a national victory, telling a small crowd: "This victory is for all of us."
But for thousands of Afghan people, the last Western airlines took one last chance to leave the country. Many now fear their newfound truths; in particular, women, minority religions, LGBTQ people, journalists and others face brutal treatment under the strict definition of the Sharia Law group.
And for Taliban leaders, a rapid change in national governance is costly. The group has no experience of using traditional governance, and has shown little familiarity with geopolitics during the five-year rule of the last two decades. Their honesty and power now have an impact on the 38 million Afghans, many of whom will be laid off or put into economic trouble.
Afghanistan is a very different country from the Taliban regime between 1996 and 2001. Most Afghan people do not remember that time - more than 60% of the country is under the age of 25. the world, all of which make it very different from the war-torn nation the Taliban won 25 years ago.
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