The last U.S. military aircraft to leave Afghanistan, General Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, the commander of the U.S. Central Command, announced Monday at the Pentagon. The departure of the United States marked the end of a full, chaotic and bloody exit from the longest war in the United States.
“I am here to announce the end of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and the end of the military mission to evacuate vulnerable U.S. citizens, third-country nationals and Afghans,” McKenzie told reporters. “The last C-17 took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 30, this afternoon, at 15:29 on the east coast, and the last manned aircraft is clearing the airspace above. of Afghanistan “.
“There are a lot of breaks related to this exit,” McKenzie said. “We didn’t get everyone out who wanted to go out.”
President Joe Biden addressed a statement later Monday and thanked the final U.S. forces serving in Afghanistan for executing the “dangerous retrograde of Afghanistan as planned,” without any further loss of American lives.
As of Monday, more than 122,000 people had been transferred from Hamid Karzai International Airport since July, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday morning.
Since Aug. 14, the Pentagon has deployed U.S. Special Operations Forces to attract 1,064 U.S. citizens and 2,017 Afghans at risk or special immigrant visa applicants, McKenzie said. “We have evacuated more than 6,000 American civilians, who we believe represent the vast majority of those who wanted to leave at this time,” he said.
There were no U.S. citizens on the last five flights departing from Kabul, McKenzie said, and there were no people evacuated to the airport when the last two U.S. officials — General Christopher Donohue and the business manager. from the embassy Ross Wilson- left Afghan territory and on the last American plane to leave Afghanistan.
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