Afghanistan: Last US troops leave Kabul in airlift, ending chaotic withdrawal and 20 years in country
- Last military flight includes troops who had been helping with evacuations, as well as Ross Wilson, the chief US envoy to Kabul
- More than 122,000 people have been flown out since August 14, the day before the Taliban regained control of the country
The United States completed the withdrawal of its military from Afghanistan shortly after midnight Kabul time, Pentagon officials said on Monday, bringing to an end a 20-year mission sparked by the terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001.
Marine General Frank McKenzie, the head of the US Central Command, said in a Pentagon news briefing that the last troops sent to evacuate Americans and Afghans at risk following the Taliban‘s return to power flew from Hamid Karzai International airport on a C-17 transport plane. Ross Wilson, the chief US envoy to Afghanistan, was also on the flight.
“It’s a mission that brought Osama bin Laden to a just end, along with many of his al-Qaeda co-conspirators, and it was not a cheap mission,” McKenzie said. “The cost was 2,461 US service members and civilians killed and more than 20,000 who were injured.”
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Final evacuation flight leaves Kabul, ending 20 years of US presence in Afghanistan
