General Kenneth Mackenzie, head of US Central Command, announced the end of a nearly 20-year mission.
At a press briefing at the Pentagon on Monday, the head of the US Central Command, General Kenneth Mackenzie, whose area of operational responsibility includes primarily the Middle East, said that the United States had withdrawn its troops from Afghanistan and completed an operation to evacuate civilians, TASS reports. persons from Kabul, and his entire military mission in this country, which began shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
“I am here today to announce the completion of the withdrawal of our troops from Afghanistan and the end of the military operation to evacuate American citizens, citizens of other countries, as well as Afghans who were in a vulnerable position,” he stressed.
Mackenzie said that Ross Wilson, US Charge d’Affaires in Afghanistan, was aboard the last plane to leave Kabul.
“The last [military transport aircraft] C-17 departed from Hamid Karzai International Airport at 3:29 pm US East Coast time (10:29 pm Moscow time) this afternoon on August 30, and the last manned aircraft is currently leaving the airspace Afghanistan”, the general added.
According to the American general, this means “the end of an almost 20-year mission that began in Afghanistan shortly after September 11, 2001”.
“The cost was the death of 2,461 US servicemen and civilians, and more than 20,000 were injured. Unfortunately, these figures also include 13 US servicemen who were killed last week by a suicide bomber of the Islamic State in Khorasan (an offshoot of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist organization, banned in Russia)”, he said.