After two decades of battle, the Pentagon has confirmed that America’s longest war is over.
An aircraft carrying the final remaining US troops have left Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport bound for the United States, which concludes the 20-year war.
General Frank McKenzie, the head of US Central Command, confirmed the military plane departed safely in Afghanistan just before President Joe Biden’s deadline.
McKenzie admitted that it was difficult leaving they weren’t able to secure everyone they wanted to evacuate, LADBible reports.
“There’s a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure,” General McKenzie said. “We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out.”
“But I think if we’d stayed another 10 days, we wouldn’t have gotten everybody out,” he added.
General McKenzie estimates that there are still American citizens in Afghanistan, however, he has faith that they will soon be able to leave.
The planned withdrawal of America’s presence in Afghanistan came to a precarious end with the Taliban quickly regained power.
The Taliban took over the country as the US troops were gearing up to finally leave after two decades and the militant group managed to easily overwhelm the country’s local forces.
This has caused thousands of Afghans to rush to Kabul’s airport and beg for a chance to be evacuated.
America’s withdrawal also led billions of dollars worth of military equipment to end up in the hands of the Taliban, the group the US spent the last twenty years fighting.
According to reports, there are more than 2,400 Americans who have died during the 20-year war and those casualties extended all the way until last week when two suicide bomb attacks happened near the airport.
The ISIS-orchestrated attack killed nearly 13 American servicemen and 179 Afghan locals.