The withdrawal of the US troops got here earlier than the tip of August 31.
Washington:
The US army has accomplished its withdrawal from Afghanistan to finish a brutal 20-year struggle — one which began and ended with the hardline Islamist Taliban in energy, regardless of billions of {dollars} spent making an attempt to rebuild the conflict-wracked nation.
Celebratory gunfire rang out in Kabul within the early hours of Tuesday, and elated senior Taliban officers hailed the occasion as a watershed second.
The withdrawal got here after the fraught last days of a frantic mission to evacuate tens of 1000’s of Individuals and Afghans who had helped the US-led struggle effort — and which left scores of Afghans and 13 US troops useless in a suicide assault final week.
That assault — claimed by the ISIS’s Afghan offshoot — gave edgy urgency to the dangerous US-led worldwide airlift from Kabul, and in addition revealed the doable troubles forward for Afghanistan because the Taliban transfer to type a authorities and really rule.
The withdrawal got here earlier than the tip of August 31, the precise deadline set by President Joe Biden to name time on America’s longest struggle — one which in the end claimed the lives of greater than 2,400 US service members.
“I am right here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and the tip of the army mission to evacuate Americans,” US Common Kenneth McKenzie informed reporters Monday Washington time.
“Tonight’s withdrawal signifies each the tip of the army element of the evacuation but in addition the tip of the practically 20-year mission that started in Afghanistan shortly after September eleventh, 2001.”
The ultimate flight left at 1929 GMT Monday – simply earlier than the beginning of Tuesday in Kabul, he mentioned.
Biden mentioned he would handle the nation on Tuesday in Washington.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid mentioned Afghanistan had “gained full independence” with the US withdrawal, and Anas Haqqani, a senior Taliban official, mentioned he was “proud” to witness “these historic moments”.
AFP correspondents within the metropolis heard celebratory gunfire from a number of Taliban checkpoints, in addition to the cheers of fighters manning safety posts within the inexperienced zone.
Exodus reduce quick
The return to energy a fortnight in the past of the Taliban motion, which was toppled in 2001 when the USA invaded in retaliation for the carnage on 9/11, triggered a large exodus of people that worry a brand new model of hardline Islamist rule.
The evacuation flights have taken greater than 123,000 folks out of Kabul airport, in keeping with McKenzie, however he admitted not everybody who wished to go away was capable of, and that the “diplomatic mission” to permit others to go away will proceed.
How that course of will unfold is unclear.
The UN Safety Council adopted a decision Monday, requiring the Taliban to honor a dedication to let folks freely go away Afghanistan within the days forward, and to grant entry to the UN and different assist companies, however didn’t create a “secure zone” in Kabul.
However talks are ongoing as to who will now run Kabul airport. The Taliban have requested Turkey to deal with logistics whereas they keep management of safety, however President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not but accepted that supply.
And it was not instantly clear which airways would conform to fly out and in of Kabul.
The regional ISIS-Okay group, rivals of the Taliban, posed the largest menace to the withdrawal when it carried out a devastating suicide bombing exterior the airport final week.
On Monday, they claimed to have fired six rockets on the airport. A Taliban official mentioned the assault was intercepted by the airport’s missile defence techniques.
An AFP photographer noticed a destroyed automotive with a launcher system nonetheless seen within the again seat.
‘Potential lack of harmless life’
America mentioned Sunday it had carried out a drone strike in opposition to a automobile threatening the Kabul airport that had been linked to the regional ISIS chapter — its second focusing on IS-Okay in latest days.
However on Monday, it regarded like they’d presumably made a horrible mistake.
Members of 1 household informed AFP they believed a deadly error had been made, and that 10 civilians have been killed.
“My brother and his 4 youngsters have been killed. I misplaced my small daughter.. nephews and nieces,” Aimal Ahmadi informed AFP.
A spokesman for US Central Command mentioned Sunday that the US was “conscious of experiences of civilian casualties” and was investigating.
“We’d be deeply saddened by any potential lack of harmless life,” he mentioned.
In recent times, the ISIS Afghanistan-Pakistan chapter has been accountable for a few of the deadliest assaults in these nations.
Whereas each the ISIS and the Taliban are hardline Sunni Islamists, they’re at instances additionally bitter foes — with every claiming to be the true flag-bearers of jihad.
Finish of an period
The US army effort in Afghanistan was winding down with out incident forward of the August 31 deadline when Biden was pressured to ship 6,000 troops again into Kabul simply two weeks in the past to safe evacuations because the Taliban steamrolled throughout the nation.
The victory of the hardliners and the choice by ousted Afghan president Ashraf Ghani to flee the nation sparked panic in Kabul, the place 1000’s of Afghans flocked to the airport within the hopes of leaving the Taliban-ruled nation.
Just a few even clung to a US army plane taking off in a determined bid to flee — solely to fall from the sky.
All informed, the US army spent greater than $775 billion on operations in Afghanistan since 2001, in keeping with the most recent accessible knowledge from September 2019.
However a research carried out at Brown College suggests the entire might be far larger, maybe topping $2.3 trillion.
(Aside from the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is printed from a syndicated feed.)
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