After 20 years, the US officially withdrew from Afghanistan.
The US military presence in Afghanistan has officially ended after 20 years of war. The Pentagon announced that the last US troops have left Afghanistan. Before the withdrawal of its forces, the US destroyed much of the military equipment stationed in Kabul.
The US military has ended its deployment in Afghanistan after 20 years. The last US military plane has taken off from Kabul airport, ending the military evacuation mission.
US President Joe Biden had ordered the complete withdrawal of his troops by August 31.
The news of the complete withdrawal of US military forces from Afghanistan was officially announced by General Frank McKenzie, Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), and he said that Ross Wilson, the acting US ambassador to Kabul, was among those who left Afghanistan on the last C-17 flight.
Hours before their departure, American forces "disabled" a large number of aircraft and armored vehicles, as well as the missile defense system at Kabul airport, to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Taliban or other Islamist groups.
General Frank McKenzie, commander of CENTCOM (the headquarters of US military forces in the Middle East and North Africa), announced that 27 Humvees and 70 MRAP armored vehicles, each worth up to $1 million, had been destroyed.
The US also “disabled” the C-RAM missile defense system, which was used to protect Kabul airport from missile attacks. With the help of this defense system, ISIS missile attacks on the airport were repelled.
"We decided to keep these systems operational until the last minute before the last American aircraft flew," McKenzie emphasized. "Dismantling these systems is a complex and time-consuming process. So we 'civilized' them so they would never be used again."
The American general also added that a total of 73 aircraft previously based at Hamid Karzai International Airport were destroyed by American forces.
Since the start of the withdrawal operation of American and NATO forces and local partners, civil activists and women's rights defenders, approximately 120,000 people have left Afghanistan.
The withdrawal of American and NATO forces from Afghanistan was based on the agreement between the United States and the Taliban in Doha, the capital of Qatar, in 2020. After this agreement, American and NATO forces began the process of withdrawing from Afghanistan.
Former US President Donald Trump signed an agreement with the Taliban in 2020 that set the date for the withdrawal of international forces as May 1, 2021, but new US President Joe Biden delayed this date to September 11, 2021, and the operation officially ended on Tuesday, August 31.
Source: DW
