The Taliban displayed weapons and vehicles left behind by US and Afghan forces at a victory parade in Kandahar. They posed for photos in aircraft that were rendered inoperable by the US military before withdrawal. Efforts to reopen Kabul airport have begun with a Qatari technical team visiting to discuss restoring commercial flights for humanitarian aid delivery and travel, as the country faces severe shortages. Fighting continues in Panjshir Valley, the only area resisting Taliban control, as negotiations between the NRF and Taliban have stalled.

1. At a victory celebration in
Kandahar, the Taliban display
captured weaponry.

2. At victory celebrations in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on
Wednesday, the Taliban displayed dozens of American-made
armored vehicles as well as newly captured weapons.
The Taliban exhibited gear left behind by both Afghan and US forces
in films uploaded on social media after the evacuation of the final
American troops left Afghanistan in the hands of the insurgent group.
At the military parade, fighters flew white Taliban flags from Humvees
and armored SUVs, many of which appeared to be in near-perfect
condition. A freshly seized Black Hawk chopper flew past as part of
the Taliban's air show.
The march took place a day after video evidence emerged of militants
making their way into an abandoned hangar at Kabul airport, which
was littered with US-supplied equipment.
In one video, militants wearing American-style clothing and wielding
American-made weapons examined a parked CH-46 Sea Knight
helicopter. Taliban gunmen were also photographed posing in the
cockpits of planes and helicopters that used to be part of the Afghan
Air Force.
However, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told CNN on Tuesday that
he isn't "overly concerned" about photographs of Taliban fighters
inspecting the crashed plane.
"They are free to inspect as much as they want," Kirby added. "They
can look at them and walk around with them, but they can't fly. They
are unable to operate them."

3. He went on to say that the US military had rendered "all of the
equipment at the airport inoperable — all of the aircraft, all of the
ground vehicles," leaving just fire trucks and forklifts operating.
Efforts to reopen Kabul airport begun on Wednesday with the arrival in
the Afghan capital of a team of Qatari technical specialists, according
to a source familiar with the situation.
According to the source, the technical team flew to Kabul on a Qatari
jet at the invitation of the Taliban, and while no final agreement has
been made, "talks at the level of security and operation" are still
ongoing.
"The goal is to restore safe and secure flights into and out of Kabul for
humanitarian assistance and freedom of movement."
The World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) have already failed to transport crucial food and
medical supplies to the airport amid the mammoth evacuation effort,
as Afghanistan is highly reliant on international aid.
Afghanistan was already the world's third-largest humanitarian
concern before the recent political upheaval, with over 18 million
people in need of aid, according to UNICEF. However, with no
commercial aircraft allowed to land in Kabul at the moment, bringing
aid in will be challenging.
The resumption of commercial flights will be critical for those who still
want to flee the country but were unable to board military evacuation
planes.

4. Since August 14, more than 123,000 people have been evacuated by
American and allied planes, according to US Central Command Gen.
Frank McKenzie.
The Taliban has promised to govern more moderately this time, and
have stated that foreign nationals and Afghans with legal identification
will be allowed to leave the country after August 31. Many Afghans,
however, are skeptical of their assertions, and the Taliban's ability to
rule the country remains in doubt.
"This victory belongs to us all," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid
told a small gathering on the Kabul airport runway on Tuesday.
He was accompanied by heavily armed men dressed in camouflage
clothing and desert boots from the Taliban's Badri 313 special forces
brigade.
Mujahid praised the Taliban militants who had gathered, as well as
"the entire nation."
Only one Afghan district has defied the Taliban: the Panjshir Valley, a
crucial swath of land roughly 90 miles north of Kabul that was once a
stronghold for mujahideen against the Soviets and is now the heart of
the resistance movement.
Only one Afghan district has defied the Taliban: the Panjshir Valley, a
crucial swath of land roughly 90 miles north of Kabul that was once a
stronghold for mujahideen against the Soviets and is now the heart of
the resistance movement.

5. NRF forces inflicted heavy casualties on Taliban attackers attempting
to fight their way into Panjshir via the Gulbahar area, damaging the
militant group's weaponry and forcing them to retreat, according to Ali
Nazary, a spokesperson for the anti-Taliban National Resistance Front
(NRF) of Afghanistan.
"Negotiations have come to a halt; they've hit a stalemate," Nazary
added. "They attempted to assault from two directions."
The severity of the combat and the total number of losses on both
sides could not be independently verified. Following the violence in
Gulbahar, the emergency hospital, a surgical center for war victims in
Kabul, stated on Twitter that it had received five wounded patients and
four persons dead on arrival.
The Taliban's top leadership has refused to acknowledge the region's
intense combat. Amir Khan Muttaqi, a Taliban leader, called for
Panjshiris to accept an amnesty and stop fighting in an audio
message issued Wednesday but noted that negotiations had so far
failed.