Taliban soldiers inspected an airport in Kabul after the U.S. pullout was completed on August 30.

The militants were seen riding pickup trucks and making rounds at the Hamid Karzai International Airport, now fully under Taliban control after the U.S. exit, on August 31. Footage shows several Humvees left behind at the airport which also serves as a military compound.

Marine General Frank McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command, said dozens of pieces of military equipment, vehicles, and aircraft had already been ‘demilitarized’ before U.S. forces left, rendering them useless to Taliban soldiers.

He said: ‘It’s a complex procedure, complex and time-intensive procedure to break down those systems so we de-militarized those systems so that they’ll never be used again, and we just felt it more important to protect our forces than to bring those systems back.’

The U.S. pullout was completed one minute before midnight struck in Kabul on August 30.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said America’s withdrawal signals the start of Afghanistan’s ‘complete independence’.

He said: ‘At 12 o’clock tonight, the last American troops left Kabul airport, on which account Afghanistan was completely liberated and independent.’