Victorious Taliban gloat over ruins of CIA's Afghan base

The US destroyed the last CIA base in Afghanistan as its troops pulled out

After America's longest war, Taliban commander Mullah Hasnain contemplates all that is left of what was part of the last CIA base -- demolished buildings, destroyed vehicles and piles of ammunition.

"We let them go peacefully, and look what they've left behind," Hasnain said, a leader of the Taliban's elite Badri 313 unit.

"Before going, they destroyed everything," he told journalists being shown the site, flanked by Taliban guards cradling American M-16 rifles and equipped with the latest military kit.

After a two-week blitz of Afghanistan, the Taliban capped their extraordinary victory by sweeping into Kabul on August 15.

- 'Lots of explosions' -

"We were there for nine or 10 days," 35-year-old Hasnain said, speaking in clear English. "There were lots of explosions."

Hasnain pointed at one crater he said had been "an ammunition warehouse". Only a heap of rubble and twisted metal remain.

A day earlier, Islamic State-Khorasan, Afghanistan's branch of the jihadist franchise and rivals of the Taliban, had attacked crowds at the airport trying to flee.

Hasnain pointed to another area, where dozens of crates packed with hundreds of rockets were piled. "Please don't move the grenades," he told journalists.

One building was left intact, a large games room with billiards, table football, darts and soft velvet armchairs. Its sign still dangled outside -- "The Snooker Club".

"We need everything for the country, including weapons -- we don't have enough to ensure security," he said.

- Deliberate destruction -

At the nearby airport, US troops disabled or destroyed scores of aircraft and armoured vehicles, as well as a high-tech defence system used to stop rocket attacks.

"The US came to Afghanistan saying that they would rebuild the country," he said. "This is their real face, they didn't leave anything."

Ankle-deep in the ash of the burned base, Hasnain offered a message of conciliation, echoing his Taliban superiors.

But many in Afghanistan remember the harsh 1996-2001 regime when the Taliban were previously in power all too well.

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Originally published as Victorious Taliban gloat over ruins of CIA's Afghan base