After 20 Years, America Formally Withdraws from Afghanistan
The U.S. military presence has formally ended after 20 years of war in Afghanistan. The Pentagon announced that the last American forces have withdrawn from Afghanistan. Before withdrawing its forces, America destroyed many military equipment stationed in Kabul.
The U.S. Army ended its 20-year deployment in Afghanistan. The last American military aircraft departed from Kabul airport, and the military evacuation mission came to an end.
U.S. President Joe Biden had issued an order for the complete withdrawal of his forces by September 8 (August 31).
General Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), formally announced the complete withdrawal of American military forces from Afghanistan and said that Ross Wilson, the interim U.S. ambassador in Kabul, was among those who departed Afghanistan on the last C-17 flight.
Hours before their withdrawal, American forces “disabled” a large number of aircraft, armored vehicles, and Kabul airport’s missile defense systems to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Taliban or other Islamist groups.
General Frank McKenzie, commander of CENTCOM (the command headquarters of U.S. armed forces in the Middle East and North Africa), announced that 27 Humvee vehicles and 70 MRAP armored vehicles, each worth up to one million dollars, were destroyed.
America also “disabled” the C-RAM missile defense system, which was used to protect Kabul airport against missile attacks. With the help of this defense system, ISIS missile attacks on the airport had been repelled.
McKenzie emphasized: “We decided to keep these systems operational until the last minute before the departure of the last American aircraft. Dismantling these systems is a complex and time-consuming process. Therefore, we ‘demilitarized’ them so they can never be used again.”
This American general also added that in total, 73 aircraft that were previously stationed at Hamid Karzai International Airport were destroyed by American forces.
Since the beginning of the withdrawal operations of American and NATO forces and local partners, approximately 120,000 people, including civil activists and women’s rights defenders, have left Afghanistan.
The withdrawal of American and NATO forces from Afghanistan took place based on the agreement between the United States and the Taliban in Doha, the capital of Qatar in 2020. Following this agreement, American and NATO forces began their withdrawal process from Afghanistan.
Donald Trump, the former U.S. president, signed an agreement with the Taliban in 2020, which stated that the withdrawal date of international forces would be May 1, 2021, but Joe Biden, the new U.S. president, postponed this date to September 11, 2021, and this operation formally ended on Tuesday, September 8 (August 31).
Source: DW
