U.S military C-17 carrier departs the last U.S troops in Afghanistan on Monday, marking the end of the longest war in U.S history. but left between 100 and 200 Americans and tens of thousands Afghan American allies facing an uncertain and dangerous future.
The last U.S withdrawal comes just minutes before a deadline set by President Biden Aug 31. Which came out of the ongoing threat of a terrorist attack that claimed the lives of 13 American workers and more than 200 Afghan civilians killed in suspected Islamic State suicide bombings at Kabul airport on Thursday.
Without the confirmation of Mr Biden and other management officials, Many Americans and Afghan allies are left behind, although the State Department was unable to provide exact figures.
The United States on Monday said it was working to help hundreds of Americans. Law groups say as many as 60,000 Afghan teachers, pilots and others who have helped American troops, the CIA and American personnel over the years, and their families, are living in the country at risk of being punished by the Taliban.
The last U.S military They depart from Kabul's Hamid Karzai Airport on the C-17 Globemaster cargo plane at 3:29 pm. Eastern Time, or 11:59 p.m. Kabul Time, General Frank McKenzie, commander of the U.S Central Command said Monday.
"Tonight's withdrawal means the end of a military transit operation but also the end of nearly 20 missions that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001," said Gen McKenzie.
A gunshot was fired in Kabul after the last American plane left the city's airport, while Taliban troops express their happiness in the air to celebrate the moment the last foreign soldier left Afghan soil.
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid urged residents of Afghanistan's capital not to panic over the shooting, which he described as "a joke". "Our country has achieved complete freedom, thank Allah," he wrote on Twitter.
While the Americans were leaving Afghanistan, soldiers flew several B-52 bombers, MQ-9 Reaper drones, AC-130 rifles and F-15 fighters flying overhead to monitor any possible attacks. "We were looking forward to it," the official said.
The last jet was expected to take off around 3am in Kabul on August 31, but the flight was delayed due to certain conditions, including the weather, the official said. The flight didn't leave Afghan airspace until midnight, an official said.
The last U.S officials in Kabul also left on Monday, according to two U.S officials, who flew to Kuwait shortly before returning to the U.S crew, who had been at Kabul airport for more than two weeks, left the country on Saturday, and returned to the United States on Sunday, after a short stop in Qatar.
Their departure marks the end of a U.S embassy mission to Afghanistan, which contradicts months of assurances from the White House and State Department that the U.S will remain an ambassador to Afghanistan after the military withdrawal.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said from the State Department that the U.S will continue to support exit efforts, without access to information. Mr Blinken said there were between 100 and 200 Americans still in Afghanistan- last Monday, the State Department said there were more than 200 Americans still alive.
Mr Blinken said the U.S It can work with the Taliban if the group fulfills its obligations by allowing freedom of movement, women's rights, and terrorism, among others. He said the United States would continue to provide assistance to Afghanistan, although funding would go to the United Nations and aid groups, rather than to a new government in Kabul.
Although it was the longest military war in U.S history, Afghanistan was often a forgotten war, overshadowed by the Iraqi invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent resurgence of the Islamic State militant group.
In all, 2,461 U.S soldiers were killed, including 13 last week, in a U.S campaign. It started on October 7, 2001, as an attempt to overthrow the Taliban by incorporating al Qaeda. The amount paid was very high for the people of Afghanistan: About 69,000 soldiers and police, and an estimated 47,000 civilians, according to investigators from Brown University's Costs of War program.
