Midnight between Monday and Tuesday from Kabul The last American plane has taken off at the airport, concluding an evacuation operation, as well as a 20-year military mission in Afghanistan, reports the broadcaster BBC.
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“This night’s departure marks both the end of the military evacuation and the end of a nearly 20-year mission to Afghanistan that began shortly after September 11, 2001,” General Kent McCenzy told a Pentagon press conference.
The Taliban said the country had “gained complete independence”.
The image below shows the last American soldier who boarded the plane. This is Major General Chris Donahue, Commander of the 82nd Airborne Division. With the departure of the Americans, Afghanistan has also been left without air traffic control.
The last American soldier to leave Afghanistan: Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commanding general of the @ 82ndABNDiv, @18airbornecorps boards an @usairforce C-17 on August 30th, 2021, ending the U.S. mission in Kabul. pic.twitter.com/j5fPx4iv6a
— Department of Defense ???????? (@DeptofDefense) August 30, 2021
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken later said in a press conference that the evacuation from Kabul was one of the most complex operations in American history. Washington has suspended diplomatic activity in Kabul, which has now been relocated to Doha.
There are still 100 to 200 U.S. citizens left in Afghanistan, Blinken said. The exact number is difficult to determine, as many of them are persons with dual citizenship and local roots. If they decide to leave in the near future, the United States will help them, the Secretary of State emphasizes.
He recalls that the Taliban have promised to allow anyone who wants to leave – the United States will keep the Taliban at bay and help those who want to leave, Blinken said. He also expressed hope that civil aviation would soon resume operations and be able to cross land borders.
“America’s work in Afghanistan continues,” Blinken said. “We will make sure we look for every opportunity to fulfill our commitment to the Afghan people. In this way, we will honor all the brave husbands and wives from the United States and many other countries who risked and sacrificed their lives on this long mission to this day,” Blinken said.
Operation in numbers
Since August 14, U.S. forces have evacuated more than 79,000 civilians from Kabul Airport, including 6,000 Americans and more than 73,000 Afghans and third-country nationals.
In total, coalition forces have evacuated more than 123 thousand civilians, or an average of more than 7,500 people a day. The evacuation mission lasted 18 days. The largest number of evacuated people in one day – 19 thousand.
The administrations of four US presidents experienced the war in Afghanistan. The mission was launched by George W. Bush in 2001 following the terrorist attacks of September 11, and was served by Barack Obama for two terms. Then came Donald Trump, who promised to take the Americans home and made a peace deal with the Taliban, but the withdrawal and evacuation operation was the responsibility of Joe Biden.
In 20 years, more than 800,000 U.S. forces and 25,000 civilians have served in Afghanistan. 2461 of these people died, but more than 20 thousand were injured.
Talibi pig
After the last take-off of the plane, which was also flown by the US ambassador to Afghanistan, the noise of gunfire was heard in Kabul and the sky filled the lines of drifting bullets, as the Taliban militants celebrated their victory.
Celebratory gunfire from #Taliban fighters shooting tracer rounds into #Acceptance‘s night sky after #US withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/4dhrHz7CNw
— Nabih (@nabihbulos) August 30, 2021
Celebratory gunfire #Kabulairport #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/behl9ZRPU0
– lyse doucet (@bbclysedoucet) August 30, 2021
In the minutes following the last take-off of the plane, Taliban militants entered the airport buildings.
#Taliban fighters enter a hangar in #Acceptance Airport and examine #chinook helicopters after #US leaves #Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/flJx0cLf0p
— Nabih (@nabihbulos) August 30, 2021
The last days are especially tense
ASV force evacuation operation Afghan in the capital, the last days took place under particularly tense conditions. In a crowd at the airport gates on Thursday, a suicide bomber attacked about 170 people, including 13 U.S. forces.
ASV drone killed in a blow on Friday IS-K “planner” of the terrorist group, but officials warned all holidays about the possibility of new terrorist attacks at and around the airport.
In turn, on Sunday, the United States announced that the drone was under attack destroyed a car with suicide bomberswho are about to attack the airport. Unfortunately, there are reports that civilians, including children, have been killed in this blow.
On Monday several rockets fired at the airport.
“This has always been a dangerous operation, but we are now in a particularly dangerous phase,” John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters at a news conference on Monday.
The evacuation of foreign diplomats, citizens and Afghans from Kabul Airport began on 14 and 15 August, when a group entered the Afghan capital. “TalibanFearful of Islamist atrocities, thousands of people went to the airport guarded by US troops, causing chaos there.
“Taliban“The militants entered Kabul on August 15, when President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. The fall of Kabul into the hands of the militants followed a series of Afghan important cities to be controlled by the Taliban within a week. Fighters fast success began with the announcement by the United States of its withdrawal by the end of August. However, such a sharp fall in Kabul was not predicted by the US intelligence services.
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