“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 “.
The exit marks the first time in nearly two decades that the United States and its allies have no ground troops in Afghanistan and, after spending $ 2 trillion and nearly 2,000 U.S. soldiers killed in action, the withdrawal raises questions about the usefulness of a war that saw the service of parents and then their older children.
With no U.S. diplomats remaining in the country, a senior State Department official said they expected the U.S. embassy in Kabul to suspend embassy operations at the end of the military retrograde, but said “this is not the case. it means that we are suspended from any commitment to American citizens in Afghanistan, to Afghans at risk, to the Afghan people. “
Nearly 20 years after the US invaded Afghanistan to avenge the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and went on strike against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, which hosted Osama bin Laden, another US administration is leaving the country. under the control of Taliban militants who still maintain close ties with Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.
Although Biden is pulling the United States out of the country, Afghanistan seems to be shadowing it politically and occupying it militarily; on Monday, White House officials said the president continues the hunt for terrorists in the country, telling his military commanders to “stop at nothing” to avenge the deaths of 13 members of the U.S. service at the airport. Kabul last week.
As of Monday, more than 122,000 people had been transferred from Hamid Karzai International Airport since July, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters, including 5,400 Americans.
A senior State Department official said the department believes there are currently fewer than 250 U.S. citizens in Afghanistan who may want to leave, as U.S. officials stressed the Taliban’s commitment to let Afghans go. of the country after the withdrawal of the United States and the Allies. The State Department official placed the number of U.S. citizens who have left the country by means of evacuation flights or other means closer to 6,000.
“We believe there is still a small number left and we are trying to determine exactly how many,” the official told reporters on Monday. “We’re going through manifestos of people who have left, we’re calling, texting and texting, and emailing our lists, in an effort to have a more specific figure on how many Americans can stay.” .
In the 24 hours before Monday morning, 26 C-17 military planes left Kabul carrying 1,200 evacuated people, according to General Hank Taylor, the deputy director of regional operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who spoke alongside Kirby in a Pentagon session. Monday before. A total of 28 flights departed from Kabul airport in that 24-hour window, Taylor said.
In the same 24-hour period, the United States carried out a drone attack that killed several civilians, including children, Kabul airport was targeted by rocket fire and military officials continued to warn of active and specific threats to the evacuation effort.
“The flow of threats is still real. It is still active and in many cases still specific,” Kirby said in Monday morning’s briefing when asked if another attack on the attack was still likely. airport. Taylor added that military operations continued to focus on the security of U.S. troops in Kabul, and that the military could evacuate Afghans to the end.
“We take it very seriously and we’ll go all the way,” Kirby said.
Along with the military exit, the U.S. withdraws all diplomatic representation, leaving open the question of whether it will formally recognize the Taliban as rulers of Afghanistan.
The formal military and diplomatic “retrograde” ends even when the United States leaves behind the Americans, some of whom did not want to leave and others who may have left, according to State Department officials, as well as vulnerable Afghans working in the United States. military and now face possible Taliban retaliation.
This tragically unfinished affair will become part of the broader political challenge facing Biden as he enters the second half of his first year in office. As a devastating hurricane hits the south and the Covid-19 pandemic gains strength again, Biden is also facing petitions to account for the withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The airlift, which began as a seemingly haphazard and hastily organized effort, was marked by the deaths of 13 members of the service last week and the death sentence hanged by Afghan translators who helped troops and diplomats. of the United States but could not escape the country. In addition, Biden’s decision to leave will be overshadowed by questions about whether and how the threat of terrorism from Afghanistan has actually been addressed.
The president has already pledged to extend the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan, telling its military commanders that they should not “stop at anything” to make ISIS pay for the deaths of members of the service, he said Monday Psaki.
I can tell you that the president has made it clear to his commanders that they should not stop at anything to make ISIS pay for the deaths of those members of the US service at Kabul airport, ”Psaki said. at a White House press conference.
Sunday’s drone strike aimed at an alleged car bomb heading to the airport killed nine members of a family, including six children, according to a relative of the killings who spoke to a local journalist who worked for CNN . The U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military missions throughout the region, had previously said they were assessing the chances of civilian casualties.
When the U.S. presence closed disorderly, Blinken convened an international ministry on Afghanistan, meeting virtually with coalition members present in Afghanistan and other allies, and the UN Security Council met. United in New York.
The UN body received information about the latest news from Afghanistan after France and Germany proposed a Security Council resolution “calling for a safe passage for those leaving Afghanistan,” which included anti-terrorist elements. human and humanitarian rights, diplomats told CNN over the weekend.
This story is broken and will be updated.