Taliban celebrates I-Day, says they beat the US

The Taliban celebrated Afghanistanrsquos Independence Day on Thursday by declaring they beat the United States US but challenges to their rule ranging from running a country severely short on cash and bureaucrats to potentially facing an armed opposition began to emergeWith many ATMs out of cash and worries about rising food prices in this nation of 38 million people reliant on imports the Taliban face all the challenges of the civilian government they dethroned without the level of international aid it enjoyedMeanwhile opposition figures gathering in the last area of the country not under Taliban rule talked of launching an armed resistance under the banner of the Northern Alliance which allied with the US during the 2001 invasionStill it was not clear how serious a threat they posed given that the militants overran nearly the entire country in a matter of days with little resistance from Afghan forces Many fear the Taliban will succeed in erasing two decades of efforts to expand womenrsquos and human rights in Afghanistan and remake the countryThe Taliban so far have offered no specifics on how they will lead other than to say they will be guided by Shariah or Islamic law They are in talks with senior officials of previous Afghan governments But they face an increasingly precarious situationldquoA humanitarian crisis of incredible proportions is unfolding before our eyesrdquo warned Mary Ellen McGroarty the head of the World Food Program in Afghanistan Beyond the difficulties of importing food she said that drought has seen over40 per cent of the countryrsquos crop lost Agencies53No of people Spain has airlifted from Kabul to MadridGhani says he will return to AfghanistanFormer Afghan President Ashraf Ghani who fled the country earlier this week has pledged to return Ghani made the statement on Wednesday night during a live Facebook broadcast from the United Arab Emirates UAE ldquoI am in the United Arab Emirates but I will soon return to my countryrdquo he said noting that he is ldquoin consultations with othersrdquo before his return home Ghani noted that he will continue working ldquoto achieve justice for AfghansrdquolsquoOnly those with legal docs will be allowed accessrsquoA Taliban member on Thursday announced to a crowd outside the Kabul airport that only people with travelling documents will be allowed access ldquoA man who claims to be in charge of airport security told us that all people who do not have legal documents must leave the gate as soon as possiblerdquo a resident Mohammad Jamil told Xinhua news agency Jamil who has been waiting to access since early Wednesday has no passport just holding an Afghan identity card said he rushed to the airport after hearing that foreign planes were airlifting people and evacuating any person who wanted to leave KabulThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliabilitsy and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever