The last American soldiers have left Kabul, ending a 20-year war in Afghanistan

It is the end of twenty years of American presence in Afghanistan. The last American soldiers left Kabul, announced the Pentagon, Monday, August 30, leaving the country in the hands of the Taliban, at the end of the longest war in the history of the United States.

“The last C-17 plane took off from Kabul airport on August 30” at 10:30 p.m. KST, General Kenneth McKenzie, who heads the central command on which Afghanistan depends, told a press conference.

“If military evacuations are completed, the diplomatic mission to ensure that more eligible US citizens and Afghans wanting to leave continues”, added the general.

Since August 14, over a period of eighteen days, the planes of the United States and its allies have evacuated more than 123,000 civilians from the Hamid-Karzai international airport, the senior official also said.

Shots were heard Tuesday after the US military confirmed their departure.

The US military intervened in 2001 on the orders of President George W. Bush to hunt down the jihadist organization Al-Qaida, responsible for the September 11 attacks.

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Le Monde with AFP and Reuters