Major General Chris Donahue is the last US soldier to leave Afghanistan. The longest war in the United States is said to be over. It is a symbolic moment when the man steps into the C-17 cargo plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan – and leaves the country in chaos.
A handout made available by the US Central Command shows Donahue on Monday on board the plane in which the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Ross Wilson (66), was also sitting.
800,000 US soldiers deployed in Afghanistan
Her departure marks the definitive end of an almost 20-year mission that began shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Since then, more than 800,000 US soldiers have served in Afghanistan.
2,461 American soldiers died
The war claimed the lives of 2,461 US soldiers and civilians, and 20,000 were injured. Thirteen US soldiers lost their lives in the last week at Kabul airport.
The West is leaving the country back to the Islamists it had ousted at the end of 2001. The last US military aviator took off from the airport in the Afghan capital one minute before midnight, Kabul time. (euc / SDA)