(NewsNation) — Afghanistan’s Taliban marked the second anniversary of their return to power on Tuesday, celebrating their takeover of Kabul and the establishment of what they said was security throughout the country under an Islamic system.

After a lightning offensive as U.S.-led foreign forces were withdrawing after 20 years of inconclusive war, the Taliban entered the capital on Aug. 15, 2021, as the Afghan security forces, set up by years of Western support, disintegrated and U.S.-backed President Ashraf Ghani fled.

“On the second anniversary of the conquest of Kabul, we would like to congratulate the mujahid (holy warrior) nation of Afghanistan and ask them to thank Almighty Allah for this great victory,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement.

Afghanistan is enjoying peace not seen in decades, but the U.N. says there have been dozens of attacks on civilians, some claimed by Islamic State rivals of the Taliban.

As Adela Raz, the former Afghan ambassador to the United States, reflected on the date two years ago, she said it was a “terrible” and “heartbreaking” day.

“It’s the day for so many Afghans — and I think for so many friends of Afghanistan, for so many allies that we have out there — it was a heartbreaking day,” she said. “It was a day that we lost our home, we lost our dream.”

Prior to the withdrawal of U.S. troops, Raz sounded the alarm calling for more air support, warning about the humanitarian crisis.

She said the withdrawal of U.S. troops has been “quick” and has “created consequences,” during an exclusive interview with NewsNation shortly after the incident.

Raz told NewsNation Tuesday that the country was “in a stage that as we foresee in the hands of Taliban.”

“We knew far ahead that this is a regime that doesn’t believe in the rights of women and believe in democracy, it doesn’t believe in freedom. It doesn’t believe in the values; we all believe in the values of human rights,” she said.

Raz added: I think those were the warning signs that not only me, but so many Afghans and especially women of Afghanistan alarm, the international community, the U.S. forces the U.S. government at the time that the country will fall and indeed, in a very terrible and heartbreaking way.

For many women, who enjoyed extensive rights and freedoms during the two decades of rule by Western-backed governments, their plight has become dire since the return of the Taliban.

Girls over the age of 12 have been mostly excluded from classes since the Taliban returned to power. For many Western governments, the ban is a major obstacle to any hope of formal recognition of the Taliban administration.

The Taliban, who say they respect rights in line with their interpretation of Islamic law, have also stopped most Afghan female staff from working at aid agencies, closed beauty salons, barred women from parks and curtailed travel for women in the absence of a male guardian.

Reuters contributed to this report.