U.S. Army Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, steps on board a C-17 transport plane as the last U.S. service member to leave Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan August 30, 2021 in a photograph taken using night vision optics. XVIII Airborne Corps/Handout via REUTERS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. THIS PICTURE WAS PROCESSED BY REUTERS TO ENHANCE QUALITY. AN UNPROCESSED VERSION HAS BEEN PROVIDED SEPARATELY. REFILE – CORRECTING DATE.

Shannon Longworth Reporter

International

Finally over: Taliban says last US planes have left Afghanistan

Aug 30, 2021

Shannon Longworth Reporter

By Shannon Longworth (Reporter), Ben Burke (Producer)

The Pentagon confirmed Monday it had finished its evacuation mission in Afghanistan. According to the head of the U.S. Central Command Gen. Frank McKenzie, the last U.S. planes took off just a minute before midnight Tuesday local time. Tuesday was the deadline President Joe Biden had set to have all Americans and Afghan allies out of Afghanistan.

“Tonight’s withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission, that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11th, 2001,” Gen. McKenzie said. “It’s a mission that brought Osama Bin Laden to a just end, along with many of his Al-Qaeda co-conspirators.”

In Kabul, the scene after the last plane departed was a celebratory one, with Taliban fighters firing their guns into the air.

“The last five aircraft have left, it’s over!” Taliban fighter Hemad Sherzad said. “I cannot express my happiness in words. … Our 20 years of sacrifice worked.”

President Biden released a statement after the Pentagon’s announcement.

“I want to thank our commanders and the men and women serving under them for their execution of the dangerous retrograde from Afghanistan as scheduled,” Biden 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. They have done it with unmatched courage, professionalism, and resolve.”

Despite the President’s compliments, McKenzie acknowledged at Monday’s Pentagon briefing that the mission wasn’t a complete success.

“We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out,” McKenzie said. In a Tuesday evening speech, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “under 200, likely closer to 100” Americans who want to leave Afghanistan are still there.

In his statement, Biden said he would address his decision to not extend the deadline for getting everyone out of Kabul in a Tuesday news conference.

The withdrawal finished up as the situation at the Kabul airport was getting more dangerous by the day. Earlier Monday, Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate ISIS-K fired five rockets aimed at the airport. Those rockets landed in a nearby neighborhood. That attack came just four days after a suicide bombing at one of the airport gates killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members.

Tags: Middle East Crisis

Gen. Frank Mckenzie, Commander, U.S. Central Command: “I’m here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens, third country nationals, and vulnerable Afghans”
Shannon Longworth: IT’S A MILESTONE NEARLY TWO DECADES IN THE MAKING.

THE PENTAGON CONFIRMED THIS AFTERNOON THAT THE LAST U-S TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN HAVE BEEN WITHDRAWN.

THE HEAD OF THE U-S CENTRAL COMMAND SAID THE FINAL PLANES LEFT JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT MONDAY, LOCAL TIME.
ACCORDING TO A TALIBAN GUARD — CELEBRATORY GUNFIRE ENSUED.
THE FINAL DEPARTURES COME JUST BEFORE PRESIDENT BIDEN’S DEADLINE
OF THE END OF THE MONTH TO GET ALL TROOPS OUT.
IT ALSO CONCLUDES A MAJOR EVACUATION MISSION THAT GOT MORE THAN
116-THOUSAND PEOPLE OUT OF AFGHANISTAN IN TWO WEEKS.
Gen. Frank Mckenzie, Commander, U.S. Central Command: “Tonight’s withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation, but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission, that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11th, 2001. It’s a mission that brought Osama Bin Laden to a just end, along with many of his Al-Queda co-conspirators.”
Shannon Longworth: IT COMES ON THE *SAME DAY* ISIS-K LAUNCHED ROCKETS INTO A KABUL
NEIGHBORHOOD — AND JUST A FEW DAYS AFTER A SUICIDE BOMBING KILLED 13 U-S SERVICE
MEMBERS AND NEARLY 170 AFGHANS.