The United States announced on Monday that it has completed its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying over 122,000 people were airlifted from Kabul since August 14 – a day before the Taliban took over the country.
The Defense Department said US Ambassador to Afghanistan, Ross Wilson, was on the last flight departing the country.
The Pentagon had repeatedly said it was determined to quit the country within the August 31 deadline announced by President Joe Biden.
Defense Department spokesman John Kirby said the evacuation was dangerous and not without challenges, adding that efforts were ongoing to evacuate Americans and Afghans.
Washington was in contact with the Taliban to facilitate the operation, he revealed, clarifying, however, that the US was not in contact with the group in carrying out air strikes against ISIS-K in Afghanistan.
During a press briefing at the Pentagon on Monday, Kirby said the US administration was considering destroying military equipment and munition. “Nobody could’ve imagined how quickly that government would’ve literally just dissipated almost overnight. There was simply no way to predict that.”
“This has always been a dangerous operation but we’re in a particularly dangerous time right now,” he added of the evacuation.
He added that American forces were investigating the damage from the strikes that were carried out against ISIS, amid reports that civilians were among the casualties.
“We’re assessing and we’re investigating. Make no mistake, no military on the face of the Earth works harder to avoid civilian casualties than the United States military and nobody wants to see innocent life taken. We take it very, very seriously.”
“When we know that we have caused innocent life to be lost in the conduct of our operations, we’re transparent about it. We’re investigating this,” he continued.
Moreover, he said that the departure of American forces from Afghanistan does not mean the end of the war on terrorism. Kirby stressed that Washington will continue to cooperate with the international community.
A US drone strike blew up a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide bombers” from Afghanistan’s ISIS affiliate on Sunday before they could attack the military evacuation at Kabul’s international airport. An Afghan official said three children were killed in the strike.
The strike came just two days before the US was set to conclude a massive two-week-long airlift of more than 114,000 Afghans and foreigners and withdraw the last of its troops, ending America’s longest war with the Taliban back in power.
Speaking at the same press briefing on Monday, Army Major General William Taylor, the deputy director of the Joints Chiefs of Staff, said: “This self-defense strike successfully hit the target near Kabul airport. Significant secondary explosions from the targeted vehicle indicated the presence of a substantial amount of explosive material.”
“We are aware of reports of civilian casualties, and we take these reports very seriously, and we are continuing to assess the situation,” he added.
“Separately, at approximately 11:00 PM Eastern time last night, as many as five rockets were fired at the Kabul airport. US military forces successfully employed our force protection measures to thwart that attack. US forces retain the inherent right of self-defense, and are authorized to meet threats with a swift and forceful response. Force protection is paramount in this phase of the operation,” he stressed.
“Over the weekend and into today (Monday), evacuation operations continued. Yesterday (Sunday), 26 US military aircraft, all C-17s, departed with approximately 1,200 evacuees. In total, there were 28 flights out of Kabul airport in the last 24 hours, which included the remaining coalition departures.
“As of today (Monday), more than 122,000, including 5,400 Americans, have been evacuated from Afghanistan. US military troops have shown tremendous bravery and compassion as they put themselves in harm’s way to evacuate as many American citizens and Afghans as possible during this operation,” said Taylor.
Meanwhile, the US Central Command said in a statement: “We are aware of reports of civilian casualties following our strike on a vehicle in Kabul.”
“We are still assessing the results of this strike, which we know disrupted an imminent ISIS-K threat to the airport. We know that there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties. It is unclear what may have happened, and we are investigating further.”
The New York Times had reported that the strike against ISIS had killed ten people, including seven children and American relief agency worker who was contracted with the US military.
