The Pentagon announced the departure of the final US military flight from Kabul, ending the United States’ 20-year war in Afghanistan after a chaotic evacuation effort.
General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, said that the US evacuated 79,000 people from Kabul, including 6,000 American citizens, since August 14, a day before the Taliban took control of the city.
“I’m here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan,” McKenzie told reporters during a news briefing at the Pentagon on Monday (30 Aug).
Central Command head General Kenneth McKenzie said 73 aircraft that were already at Hamid Karzai International Airport were “demilitarised,” or rendered useless, by US troops before they wrapped up the two-week evacuation of the Taliban-controlled country.
US President Joe Biden has released a statement confirming the end of America’s 20-year military presence in Afghanistan.
“Now, our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has ended,” he said. “The past 17 days have seen our troops execute the largest airlift in US history, evacuating over 120,000 US citizens, citizens of our allies, and Afghan allies of the United States. Ending the mission as planned was “the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Chiefs and of all of our commanders on the ground”, he said.
Marking their victory. the Taliban leaders iconically walked across the runway at Kabul’s international airport after the US withdrawal. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a Livestream posted by a militant as he walked through the facility: “The world should have learned their lesson and this is the enjoyable moment of victory.”
The Taliban also celebrated in the early hours of Tuesday morning by firing guns into the air across Kabul.
The Taliban spokesperson declared, “At 12 o’clock tonight, the last American troops left Kabul airport, on which account Afghanistan was completely liberated and independent”.
Source: The Internet
