Possible developments after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan
Marines with a group of Afghan nationals after they were evacuated from Kabul.
Reuters
A picture of the last US soldier to leave Afghanistan, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, before boarding the plane at Kabul airport.
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For the first time since 2001, there are no longer any American forces in Afghanistan after the United States completed the evacuation of most of its citizens and thousands of Afghans at risk from there.
More than 114,000 people have been airlifted from Kabul airport, during the past two weeks, as part of the American effort.
But ending the US military role in Afghanistan raises a new set of questions for President Joe Biden and his administration.
* What will happen to the Americans and the vulnerable Afghans who remain in Afghanistan?
The United States has evacuated more than 5,500 American citizens since the evacuation flights began on August 14, and a small number of American nationals have chosen to remain in Afghanistan, many of them choosing to stay with family members.
The administration of US President Joe Biden has said that it expects the Taliban movement to continue to allow Americans and others to leave Afghanistan safely, after the completion of the US military withdrawal.
But the concerns are how they will leave if there is no operating airport.
Tens of thousands of Afghans remain at risk, such as translators who have worked with the US military, journalists and women's rights advocates.
Their fate is not clear, but officials fear that the Taliban will retaliate against them.
The Taliban has pledged to allow all foreign nationals and Afghan nationals who hold a passport from another country to leave Afghanistan, according to a joint statement issued by Britain, the United States and others last Sunday.
* What will happen to Kabul airport after the departure of the American forces?
Over the past two weeks, the US military has been working to secure and operate the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, with nearly 6,000 military personnel.
The Taliban are in talks with governments such as Qatar and Turkey, seeking to help maintain civil aviation operations from the airport, the only way for many to leave Afghanistan.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said last Sunday that Kabul airport needed repairs before it could reopen to civilian flights.
Turkey has been responsible - within the framework of the NATO mission - for airport security for the past six years.
Keeping the airport open, after foreign forces have handed over responsibility for it, is essential, not only to keeping Afghanistan connected to the world, but also to maintaining supplies and relief operations.
* What does the future relationship between the United States and the Taliban look like?
The United States has previously said that it does not intend to leave diplomats in Afghanistan, and that it will decide its next steps based on the actions of the Taliban.
But the Biden administration must determine how it can ensure that a humanitarian and economic crisis does not erupt in the country.
The United Nations says more than 18 million people - more than half of Afghanistan's population - need help, and that all Afghan children under the age of five are already severely malnourished amid the second drought in four years.
Some countries, including Britain, have said that no country should conclude bilateral agreements with the Taliban that recognizes it as the ruler of Afghanistan.
* What kind of threat does ISIS pose?
Perhaps the area of cooperation between America and the Taliban is to confront the threat posed by ISIS.
Questions arise about how to coordinate between Washington and the "Taliban", and even how to share information to confront the organization.
The first appearance of ISIS was the Khorasan Province, which is the historical name of the region, in eastern Afghanistan, in late 2014, and soon became known for its extreme brutality.
The organization claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on August 26 outside the airport, which killed 13 US soldiers and dozens of Afghan civilians.
America launched at least two strikes with two drones for the organization, and Biden said his administration would continue to retaliate.
• More than 18 million people need help, and all Afghan children, under the age of five, are acutely malnourished amid the second drought in four years.
• Keeping the airport open after foreign forces have handed over responsibility for it is essential, not only for Afghanistan to remain connected to the world, but also to maintain supplies and relief operations.
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