The U.S. invaded Afghanistan 20 years ago. The Taliban defended and finally defeated the invaders. The U.S. lost the longest war in U.S. history. The final U.S. troops in Afghanistan flew out of Kabul on Monday, at 3:29 p.m. EDT, ending a costly 20-year occupation that started after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and leaving a war-torn country now controlled by the Taliban.

The retreat, announced by the Pentagon, came one minute before Aug. 31 Kabul time, keeping the U.S. in the country right up until a deadline set by President Joe Biden's administration.

“Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended," Biden said in a statement, calling it the "unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground to end our airlift mission as planned."

In their view, the president said, ending the U.S. presence was the "best way" to protect the lives of troops and secure Afghan civilian departures in the weeks and months ahead.

Taliban leaders walk across airport runway to mark triumph over US.

Taliban officials walked across the sole runway at Kabul’s airport in a symbolic gesture of victory just hours after the last U.S. military plane departed, signalling the end of America’s longest war.

U.S. have learned an expensive lesson.

The U.S. spent US$ 2.3 trillion in the 20 years’ war in Afghanistan. “The world should have learned their lesson, and this is the enjoyable moment of victory," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a livestream posted by a militant, according to the Associated Press.

The scene unfolded at Hamid Karzai International Airport where heavily armed Taliban fighters walked through hangars on the military side, passing some of the CH-46 helicopters the State Department used in its evacuations before rendering them unflyable, the AP reported.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. wants the Taliban to re-open the airport to commercial service soon so that about 100 Americans and Afghans at risk for helping the U.S. mission can leave safely if they choose.

First news conference:

Encouraging words from Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.  

Taliban vow to respect women, despite history of oppression.

The Taliban vowed to respect women’s rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists as part of a publicity blitz aimed at reassuring world powers and a fearful population.

Following a lightning offensive across Afghanistan that saw many cities fall to the insurgents without a fight, the Taliban have sought to portray themselves as more moderate than when they imposed a strict form of

Taliban leaders meeting Wang Yi

China’s foreign minister has met a Taliban delegation, signalling warming ties as the United States-led foreign forces continue their withdrawal from Afghanistan. Wang Yi told the nine visiting Taliban representatives, which included the group’s co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, that Beijing expected it to “play an important role in the process of peaceful reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan”, according to a readout of the meeting from the foreign ministry.

Investment opportunities 

Afghanistan has the largest amount of rare earth element, REE in the world.  

REEs are used for the production of tank navigation systems, missile guidance systems, missile defence components, satellites, military communications systems, smart phones, electric vehicle batteries etc.

Torn by four decades of war and desperate poverty, Afghanistan is believed to be sitting on one of the richest troves of minerals in the world. The value of these resources has been roughly estimated between $1-3 trillion.

World’s largest Lithium reserves

Lithium battery is used by smart phones and electric vehicles.

Afghanistan has vast reserves of gold, platinum, silver, copper, iron, chromium, lithium, uranium, and aluminium. The country’s high-quality emeralds, rubies, sapphires, turquoise, and lapis lazuli have long charmed the gemstone market. The United States Geological Survey (USGS), through its extensive scientific research of minerals, concluded that Afghanistan may hold 60 million metric tons of copper, 2.2 billion tons of iron ore, 1.4 million tons of rare earth elements (REEs) such as lanthanum, cerium, neodymium, and veins of aluminium, gold, silver, zinc, mercury, and lithium. According to Pentagon officials, their initial analysis at one location in Ghazni province showed the potential for lithium deposits as large as those of Bolivia, which has the world’s largest known lithium reserves. The USGS, US Geological Survey, estimates the Khanneshin deposits in Helmand province will yield 1.1.-1.4 million metric tons of REEs. Some reports estimate Afghanistan REE resources are among the largest on earth.

How do I know about Lithium?  

BEH Minerals Sdn. Bhd.

In 1965 my college mate and business partner Dato Yap Lim Sen and I founded BEH Minerals. We had improvised a special magnetic separator to separate Lithium Oxide from the tin tailings. We were the largest Lithium Oxide producer in Malaysia and Mitsubishi Chemicals was our biggest buyer. At that time all the televisions were black and white. The Japanese removed the Oxide by acid to get pure Lithium for making colour television tubes. In the chemical process, a poisonous nuclear waste by-product was produced.

When the Japanese government forbid Mitsubishi from doing this operation in Japan, Mitsubishi joined venture with BEH Minerals to do this business in Bukit Merah, about 10 Km from Ipoh. When our Malaysian government came to know about this, we had to stop our business. Moreover, we were required to construct a big reinforced concrete tank to contain all the material and equipment. We had to pour more concrete to seal the tank completely.

As a result, BEH Minerals lost Rm 10 million which was a very large sum of money 56 years ago. Mitsubishi Chemical was a world-famous chemical company and we did not much about Lithium business. We sued Mitsubishi Chemical company for misleading us. After a lengthy litigation, we settled out of Court. Mitsubishi reimbursed us Rm 10 million on condition that we used the money for doing charity. That was how we founded a charity home for old people behind our Ipoh office.