The US had announced its complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, as the tentative deadline of August 31 closes in.
The last C 17 has lifted off on August 30 at 3.29 PM EST, and the last manned aircraft is clearing the airspace above Afghanistan, said General Kenneth Franklin Mckenzie.
The 20-year mission that began shortly after September 2001 attacks, to bring Osama Bin Laden and his co-conspirators to justice, did not come cheap, and it cost 2,461 US service members, including 13 recently killed in a terror attack, he said.
Biggest non-combat operation undertaken
From August 14th, 123,000 people have been evacuated from the Hamid Karzai International Airport, said the General.
The evacuees included 6,000 Americans and third-country nationals, along with Afghans at risk, he said.
The General gave the breakdown of the magnitude of the evacuations.
He said that sixteen full-day evacuations were undertaken, with roughly 7,500 people being airlifted per day, and even 19,000 people were evacuated on a day.
The numbers don’t include 5000 US troops.
General Kenneth Franklin said that the diplomatic mission will continue for eligible Afghans and US nationals, and it is only the military mission that had finished, he said.
The state department has since updated that the diplomatic presence remains suspended in Kabul but will operate from Doha.