After the U.S. withdraws, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan will be temporarily vacant because the U.S. diplomat will be based in Doha, Qatar, and the Secretary of State Anthony winked According to the Associated Press.
Brinken announces the vacancy of the embassy in Kabul Pentagon Announce American armies After being involved in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years, the withdrawal of troops was finalized. He said that the United States will continue to cooperate with neighboring countries and strive to help the remaining Americans and Afghans to go out.
As many as 200 Americans and thousands of Afghans who were unable to leave at the end of the withdrawal remain in Afghanistan. However, Brinken said that the remaining Americans who want to leave are close to 100.
Brinken said: “We will continue to work tirelessly to help Americans, foreign nationals and Afghans choose to leave Afghanistan.” “Our commitment to them has no deadline.”
For more reports from the Associated Press, please see below.
Sajad Hussein/AFP via Getty Images
As the last five U.S. military transport planes took off from Afghanistan, they left behind Americans and Afghans who could not get out, and now they must rely on Taliban Allow them to leave.
Brinken said that once the Kabul Airport reopens, the United States will work with Afghanistan’s neighbors to ensure that they leave by land or chartered flight.
Blinken said: “We don’t think all this will become easy or fast.”
Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command, told reporters that the US military was able to evacuate as many as 1,500 Afghans during the final hours of the US evacuation mission. But now it is up to the State Council to cooperate with the Taliban to let more people leave.
Mackenzie said that no citizens were trapped at the airport, and no one was on board the last few military flights. He said that the U.S. military has been able to let Americans leave until the last minute, but “none of them arrived at the airport.”
“This departure is heartbreaking,” McKenzie said. “We did not let everyone we want to go out. But I think if we stay for another 10 days, we won’t let everyone we want to go out.”
Mackenzie and other officials vividly described the last few hours of the US military on the ground and their preparations to ensure that the Taliban and Islamic State militants did not receive a functioning US military weapon system and other equipment.
The terrorist threat remains a major issue in Afghanistan, and the Islamic State militant group has at least 2,000 “core” members (Islamic State) Those who remain in the country, including many who were released from prisons during the Taliban’s sweep of control.
Officials said, emphasizing the continuing security threat, the weapon system used to counter the ISIS rocket launched into the airport a few hours ago remained operational until the “last minute” of the last U.S. military plane taking off. The last thing the U.S. military did was to make the so-called C-RAMS (anti-rocket, artillery, and mortar system) unusable.
McKenzie stated that they “demilitarized” the system so that it can never be used again. Officials stated that the troops did not blow up the equipment to ensure that they could be used when future flights restarted after they left the airport. In addition, Mackenzie said that the United States has also banned 27 Hummers and 73 aircraft, so they will never be used again.
Throughout the day, when the last C-17 transport plane was preparing to take off, Mackenzie stated that the United States had been “overwhelming American air power” in response to potential ISIS threats.
Back to the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, watched the last 90 minutes of the army’s departure in real time from the basement operations center.
According to a U.S. official, they sat quietly and watched the troops conduct a last-minute runway inspection, rendering the critical defense system inoperable and boarding the C-17. The official said that when the last plane took off, you could hear the sound of a needle falling to the ground, and the leaders in the room were relieved.
Later, Austin called Major General Christopher Donahue, the commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, who was coordinating the evacuation. Donahue and Ros Wilson, acting US ambassador to Afghanistan, were the last to board the last plane to leave Kabul.
The officials declined to be named to provide details of the military operations.
“Just because we have left, it does not mean that Americans who want to leave in Afghanistan and Afghans who want to leave have a chance. They will not be deprived of this opportunity,” McKenzie said.
The military left some equipment for the Taliban to operate the airport, including two fire trucks, some front-end loaders and aircraft stairs.
Brinken said that the United States will work with Turkey and Qatar to help them get Kabul Airport up and running again.
“This will enable a small number of daily charter flights, which is a key for anyone who wants to leave Afghanistan,” he said.
Jose Luis Magana/Associated Press Photo
