On Tuesday (August 30) night, on the first anniversary of the withdrawal of US soldiers from Afghanistan, which the Taliban commemorated as "Freedom Day," celebratory fireworks lit up the Kabul night sky.

The departure was completed one minute before midnight local time on August 30 when the war-torn country was taken over by the Taliban, who had waged a 20-year insurgency against US-led forces who invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 in response to the September 11 attacks on New York.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, announced earlier on Tuesday that colorful fireworks will be used to commemorate Independence Day.

In several districts of Kabul, the pyrotechnics accompanied strong celebratory aerial shooting.

According to the labor ministry, the de facto Taliban government has also declared Wednesday a public holiday to commemorate the day.

The head of the US Central Command stated that the departure was accompanied by "a lot of heartbreak."

Washington and its NATO allies were compelled to make a hurried retreat after failing to predict the Taliban's swift victory.

The United States ended its military departure from Afghanistan following a massive but disastrous airlift that lost 13 US service members and left behind thousands of Afghans and hundreds of Americans still attempting to flee Taliban authority.

Others are still in Afghanistan, where the Taliban attempt to construct an internationally recognized, fully-functioning government.

The Taliban are currently struggling with their insurgency, led by the Afghanistan branch of the Islamic State terrorist organization.