Gen. McKenzie was in front of the cameras with the Spokesperson of the US Department of Defense (Pentagon), John Kirby, to announce the completion of the 20-year occupation of the US in Afghanistan.
McKenzie, "I am here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan, at the conclusion of the military mission to evacuate American citizens and vulnerable Afghans. The last C-17 aircraft took off from Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport at 3:29 PM US East Coast on August 30, and the last remaining manned aircraft in the country are currently withdrawing from airspace over Afghanistan," he said.
BIDEN: “OUR 20-YEAR MILITARY PRESENCE IS NOW OVER”
U.S. President Joe Biden announced that his 20-year military presence in Afghanistan has come to an end and will deliver a speech on Tuesday. Biden thanked the commanders who completed the withdrawal process from Afghanistan before the deadline set as August 31.
"In the last 17 days, our troops have carried out the largest airlift operation in US history, evacuating more than 120,000 of our citizens, their families, our Afghan allies. Now our 20-year military presence in Afghanistan is over," Biden said.
BLINKEN THANKS TO TURKEY
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that as of today, they are suspending their diplomatic presence in Kabul and moving their activities to Doha, the capital of Qatar. Blinken announced that they are suspending their diplomatic presence in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. Blinken, on evacuations from Afghanistan following the US withdrawal, "We are grateful for the efforts of Turkey and Qatar in this regard," he said.
Noting that the USA has removed approximately 123,000 people from Afghanistan, 6,000 of whom are American citizens, Blinken emphasized that the evacuation operation is quite difficult.
2,461 OCCUPIER SOLDIERS DIED
McKenzie, "This was not a cheap task. A total of 2,461 American soldiers died and more than 20,000 were injured, 13 of them in the Daesh bomb attack last week. The reception of American citizens to the airport for evacuation was stopped 12 hours before the departure of the last plane, so we could not bring the Americans who tried to arrive at the last minute," he added.