Last U.S. Planes Leave Kabul, Ending 20-Year War In Afghanistan

The United States has withdrawn the last of its military out of Kabul, officially ending a 20-year war in Afghanistan that has become known for its massive failures and lies that cost trillions of dollars and the lives of Americans and Afghans alike.

The last C-17 plane departed from Afghanistan at 3:29 p.m. EDT Monday (11:59 p.m. Kabul time), putting an end to the countrys withdrawal, which was rushed by the Talibans quick takeover and threatened by a deadly suicide attack that the Islamic States affiliate in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for.

Tonights withdrawal signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation but also the end of the nearly 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, said Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who leads U.S. Central Command.

McKenzie added that he can say with 100% certainty that every single U.S. service member is now out of Afghanistan and that there were no evacuees left at the airport when the last U.S. flight left Kabul.

LIVE: @PentagonPresSec John F. Kirby and @CENTCOM commander, Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., hold a news briefing at the Pentagon. https://t.co/1K6jZV6Sni

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LIVE: @PentagonPresSec John F. Kirby and @CENTCOM commander, Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., hold a news briefing at the Pentagon. https://t.co/1K6jZV6Sni
Department of Defense (@DeptofDefense) August 30, 2021

About 123,000 people have been evacuated since Aug. 14 in one of the largest airlifts in history, though the increasing danger to Kabuls airport resulted in some Americans and thousands of Afghan allies left behind. The White House said Monday that about 6,000 Americans have been evacuated or otherwise have left Afghanistan in that same time.

The Pentagon said there were no non-military Americans on the last military flights, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that there are likely closer to 100 Americans left in Afghanistan who want to leave. McKenzie also stressed that some Americans expressed they wanted to stay Afghanistan.

I believe our Department of State is going to work very hard to allow any American citizens that are left in Afghanistan to be able to leave, he said. I believe that were going to be able to get those people out. I think were also going to negotiate very hard, very aggressively to get our other Afghan partners out. The military phase is over, but our desire to bring these people out remains as intense as it was before.

Earlier Monday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Taliban has publicly stated it will allow people to travel outside of Afghanistan after Aug. 31.

That does not mean we trust what they say, but there is an enormous amount of international leverage, Psaki said. There is a discussion about what our diplomatic presence may look like moving forward. Our current plan is to not have an ongoing diplomatic presence in Afghanistan for now, but the U.S. would like to find ways to work with Afghans.

U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal that a small handful of remaining U.S. diplomats also left on Monday and are safe in Kuwait. This means there are currently no U.S. diplomats left in Afghanistan.

The U.S. deadline to fully withdraw its military from Afghanistan came on the heels of a suicide bomb that killed 13 U.S. service members and about 180 Afghans near Kabuls international airport. President Joe Biden vowed at the time to retaliate against those responsible for the attack , but said the U.S. would continue its evacuation operation.

Since then, the U.S. carried out a drone strike it said hit a suicide bomber on the way to the airport, though the attack also killed 10 Afghan civilians that included small children. Early Monday, ISIS-K fired a wave of rockets at the emptying airport, one of which the Pentagon said was intercepted by its missile defense system.