Taliban militants invited journalists to the ruins of Eagle Base, the CIA base and detention facility just outside the Afghan capital of Kabul.

The US destroyed it while making a hasty retreat from Afghanistan after the country’s government fell in mid-August.

Militants from the elite Badri 313 unit accompanied journalists from outlets including the news wire AFP, the Los Angeles Times, and the Turkish news channel TRT World to inspect the site Monday.

The Taliban commander Mullah Hasnain told AFP that militants watched the base for 10 days as the US withdrew its forces and saw explosions at the site.

“We didn’t stop them, even the last convoy that went by road to the airport,” he said. “We didn’t attack them, because we followed orders from our top officials.”

Hasnain said one large crater at the site appeared to be an ammunition dump detonated by the US on August 27.

The United States managed to airlift more than 120,000 US citizens, Afghans and foreigners since the Taliban's lightning takeover on August 15 -- but hundreds of thousands were left behind.

In a sign of the pitfalls ahead, the government was accused Tuesday of wrongly taking credit for, and even actively obstructing, the first mission to get Americans out since the completion of the withdrawal at the end of August.

Republican congressmen Markwayne Mullin and Ronny Jackson heaped scorn on the government after helping stage the evacuation Monday of a Texas woman and her three children.

Taliban's fighters have been pictured showing off a host of US-made weaponry and vehicles. Some of them were seen in complete combat gear in social media posts and couldn't be distinguished from other special forces from across the world. There was no characteristic long beard, or traditional salwar kameez outfit, and certainly no rusted weapons. They seized these weapons after troops from the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces (Ands) surrendered one city after the other.

The Taliban has also captured nine Afghan airbases, including those in Herat, Khost, Kunduz and Mazar-i-Sharif – but it’s not clear how many aircraft they have seized from there as satellite images are not available from these airports.

Taliban fighters and local media have been posting images of confiscated aircraft and unmanned drones from these airports. Some independent websites have also geo-located some of the aircraft.

The Taliban has been showing off its own “Special Forces” on social media, soldiers in new uniforms equipped with looted American equipment who contrast sharply with the image of the usual Afghan insurgent.

Pictures and videos of fighters in the so-called “Badri 313” unit have been posted online for propaganda purposes to underline how the Taliban have better equipped and trained men at their disposal than in the past, experts say.

The soldiers are shown in uniforms, boots, balaclavas and body armour similar to those worn by special forces around the world — and unlike the shalwar kameez, turban and sandals of the traditional Taliban fighter.

Pakistan’s ISI chief Faiz Hameed’s visit to Kabul at a time when Pakistan is internationally accused of aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan has sparked off controversies. Ex-Pentagon official Michael Rubin has said that the visit, which was an ’emergency’ trip to discuss the evolving situation in Afghanistan proves that the Taliban are merely an ISI puppet.

The Taliban on Monday confirmed that Pakistan's powerful intelligence chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed has met its de-facto leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, amidst efforts by the insurgent group to finalise a government in Afghanistan.

The State Department on Tuesday expressed concerns over the makeup of the new interim Afghan government announced by the Taliban, including the lack of female leaders and the past actions of some of those appointed to top posts.

Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns on Thursday met Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and ISI head Lt Gen Faiz Hamid during which they discussed issues related to regional security issues and the current situation in Afghanistan, the military said.

The meeting was held after the Taliban on Tuesday unveiled a hardline interim government with at least 14 members of the Cabinet, including acting Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hasan Akhund, being listed on the UN Security Council's terrorism blacklist.