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Afghanistan after the US
WorldRussia & Central Asia

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

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US Marines honour the 11 Marines who were killed during operations in Afghanistan before being airlifted to the US on Monday. Photo: US Marines via Zuma Press / DPA
Robert Delaney

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.

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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.”

A rapid Taliban takeover of most of Afghanistan this month, as the US-backed civilian government and military collapse forced the US and its allies to speed their pull-out, an operation marred by suicide bombings last week that left 13 US military members and about 170 Afghans dead.

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Final evacuation flight leaves Kabul, ending 20 years of US presence in Afghanistan

Final evacuation flight leaves Kabul, ending 20 years of US presence in Afghanistan
The rushed operation and scenes of Afghans rushing onto the Kabul airport’s tarmac, as well as questions about whether the Taliban will be able to stabilise the country while keeping terrorist outfits like Islamic State from using the country as a base, prompted Washington’s G7 allies to push for an extension to the deadline.
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