KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban deployed special forces at the Kabul airport on Tuesday hours after the last batch of US troops left Afghanistan.
The final evacuation flight of the US was conducted on the last hours of Monday night, airlifting their military and non-military personnel back home, one day before the Aug. 31 deadline set by US President Joe Biden.
The hardline Islamist Taliban celebrated their total return to power on Tuesday with gunfire and diplomacy, after the last US troops flew out of Afghanistan to end two decades of war.
The United States' longest military conflict drew to a close on Monday night when its forces abandoned Kabul airport, where it had overseen a frenzied airlift that saw more than 123,000 people flee.
Taliban fighters then quickly swept into the airport and fired weapons into the sky across the city in jubilation -- an astonishing comeback after US forces invaded in 2001, weeks after the September 11 attacks, and toppled them for supporting Al-Qaeda.
''Congratulations to Afghanistan... this victory belongs to us all,'' Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters hours later on the airport runway.
Mujahid said the Taliban's victory was a ''lesson for other invaders''.
In Kandahar, the spiritual birthplace of the movement and the country's second-largest city, thousands of celebrating supporters swept onto the streets.
However, many Afghans are terrified of a repeat of the Taliban's initial rule from 1996-2001, which was infamous for their treatment of women and girls, as well as a brutal justice system.
The group has repeatedly promised a more tolerant brand of governance compared with their first stint in power, and Mujahid persisted with that theme.
''We want to have good relations with the US and the world. We welcome good diplomatic relations with them all,'' he said.
Mujahid also insisted Taliban security forces would be ''gentle and nice''.
Aid crisis
The Taliban face a daunting challenge to transform from an insurgent group into a governing power, in a war-ravaged nation dependent on foreign aid.
The United Nations on Tuesday again warned of a looming ''humanitarian catastrophe,'' with food stocks running low because of disruptions caused by conflict as well as a severe drought, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pleaded for international aid.
Some Afghans appealed to the Islamist movement to keep its promise of a softer rule.
Fawzia Koofi, a rights activist and former negotiator for the ousted government who has twice survived assassination attempts, called on the Taliban via Twitter to include all Afghans as they turn to ruling.
''Taliban, hear us out: we must rebuild together!'' she wrote. ''This land belongs to all of us.''
Other activists struggled to find hope.
''If I let my thoughts linger on what we have lost, I will lose my mind,'' Muska Dastageer, who lectured at the American University of Afghanistan, said on Twitter.
Airport uncertainty
All eyes will now turn to how the Taliban handle their first few days with sole authority over the country, with a sharp focus on whether they will allow free departure for those wanting to leave -- including some foreigners.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said a small number of US citizens remained in the country -- ''under 200'' but likely closer to just 100 -- and Britain said the number of UK nationals inside was in the ''low hundreds.''
Many thousands of Afghans who worked with the US-backed government over the years and fear retribution also want to get out.
Western allies have voiced heartbreak in recent days that not all Afghans who wanted to flee could get on the evacuation flights.
On Tuesday, NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said it was essential to keep the airport open, ''both to enable humanitarian aid to the Afghan people and also to make sure that we can continue to get people out''.
Authorities from several countries have already begun meeting with Taliban leadership, the latest being India.
The ministry of external affairs said in a statement that Deepak Mittal, the ambassador to Qatar, met the Taliban's deputy chief negotiator Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai at the Indian embassy in Doha at the request of the Islamist group.
Talks are ongoing as to who will now run Kabul airport, which German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned was of ''existential importance'', as a lifeline for aid.