U.S. troops completely departed Afghanistan on Monday after a bloody war that lasted 20 years, left hundreds of thousands of people dead and consumed trillions of dollars.
The Pentagon made the formal announcement on Monday, confirming that all U.S. troops have departed Afghanistan, meeting the August 31 deadline the Biden administration set at the beginning of this year.
The last planes left the Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. EST, one minute before midnight in Kabul, said Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command.
With the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the U.S. has now ended its longest war, and President Biden has fulfilled his electoral promise that he will end the forever war.
The U.S. was able to evacuate more than 120,000 people from the country, including 5400 American citizens.
At a press briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said there was still a small group of Americans in Afghanistan. But it was not clear whether they wanted to move back to the United States or live there as some of them may be Afghan American citizens.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.
