Several old photographs are being shared on social media as visuals of the Taliban celebrating after taking over Afghanistan, reports AltNews. These photographs include one of several men prostrated in prayer and another of a few carrying guns while hanging from a car. While the photograph of the prayer is being shared as the Taliban offering prayers after occupying Kabul, the other is being shared as the Taliban triumphantly entering Kabul. However, neither of these images are from the recent takeover, the fact-checking website clarified.
The photograph of men prostrated in prayer was published on The Atlantic in 2021 titled "Afghanistan: October 2012". The caption clarifies that it is a picture of Afghans offering prayers at a mosque on the outskirts of Jalalabad on October 26, 2012, during Eid-al-Adha celebrations.
The second picture of men carrying guns on a vehicle, circulating widely on Facebook, was originally published in The Washington Post in 2018. Captured by Parvez of Reuters in 2018, it shows locals out in the streets in celebration after the then President Ashraf Ghani extended the ceasefire with Taliban insurgents ahead of Eid.