WASHINGTON – The United States military confirmed the departure of the final US troops from Afghanistan on Monday, bringing an end to a 20-year struggle that saw the Taliban seize power in the country.
“I’m here to declare the conclusion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and the military operation to remove American people,” said US Central Command chief General Kenneth McKenzie.
McKenzie said the final flight, a big C-17 military transport, departed Hamid Karzai International Airport one minute before midnight Kabul time.
US troops, their commander, and US Ambassador Ross Wilson were on board, leaving behind a deserted embassy that had housed hundreds of diplomats.
It followed an airlift that evacuated about 123,000 foreign nationals and Afghans fleeing the Taliban’s ultra-conservative rule.
The last flight took place amid tight security following two assaults by Islamic State-Khorasan on the two-week evacuation operation, one of which was a suicide bombing that killed more than 100 people, including 13 US personnel.
US President Joe Biden set an August 31 timetable for the withdrawal of US soldiers from Afghanistan earlier this year.
Many of the Afghans evacuated had previously worked for the US military, embassy, or other nations in the multinational coalition.
According to McKenzie, the airlift halted around 12 hours before the final flight, and several hundred Americans stayed behind.
“This leaving is accompanied by a great deal of sadness. We weren’t able to get everyone out that we wanted to “McKenzie stated.
“However, I believe that if we had waited another ten days, we would not have gotten everyone out that we wanted to.”
“At the airport, there were no evacuees left,” he claimed.
Despite their bitter animosity, he said the Taliban had been “extremely helpful and beneficial” in organising the evacuation and maintaining security around the airport.
“As we neared this retreat, the Taliban have been more realistic and businesslike,” he added.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States by Al-Qaeda, which was based in Afghanistan and protected by the Taliban, US soldiers led a NATO coalition to oust the Taliban from power in 2001.
After the US troops declared their withdrawal to end the 20-year conflict, gunshots erupted throughout Kabul.