Taliban celebrates U.S. departure

Taliban insurgents mounted Humvees and armored SUVs and waved their white flags during a Wednesday victory parade in the southern city of Kandahar. The vehicles and other hardware had belonged to U.S. and Afghan forces before the final American troops left Afghanistan on Monday. In one video posted online, the militants held US-made weapons while examining a parked CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter.

Can they use the equipment? Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told CNN on Tuesday that the American military made all the ground vehicles and aircraft unusable before departing. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said it’s unclear how the Taliban’s future might play out, but he said the United States might coordinate with the group to stage military strikes against the Islamic State and other militant groups. On Wednesday, three California school districts confirmed more than 30 California children, including U.S. citizens, are still stuck in Afghanistan. Officials said they traveled to visit relatives weeks before the Taliban seized power.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s WORLD report on the closing door for Afghans to escape.