Taliban terrorists celebrate "full independence" as US leaves Afghanistan after 20-year military presence
Taliban terrorists celebrated the "full independence" as the United States forces left Afghanistan on Tuesday morning, marking the end of a chaotic and messy exit from America's longest war.
The last US military planes flew out of Afghanistan. According to New York Times, five American C-17 cargo jets flew out of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on Tuesday morning. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken terms it a beginning of a new chapter of American engagement with Afghanistan.
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"It's one in which we will lead with our diplomacy. The military mission is over," he tweeted.
Blinken has announced that the US has suspended diplomatic presence in Kabul and transferred "our operations to Doha, Qatar."
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"For the time being, we will use this post in Doha to manage our diplomacy with Afghanistan," he said.
He assured that the United States will continue to support humanitarian aid to the Afghan people.
"It will not flow through the government, but rather through independent organizations, like @UN agencies & NGOs. We expect that those efforts will not be impeded by the Taliban or anyone," he tweeted.
The US' last few days in Afghanistan were marred by a complete takeover by the Taliban, the collapse of the Afghan government, hasty foreign troops evacuation that left behind tens of thousands of Afghans desperate to flee the country, and horrific terrorists attack that killed scores of Afghans.
The Department of Defense has tweeted a picture of Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, boarding a C-17 to depart Kabul. He was the last soldier to depart the country.
On Monday, Gen. Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie, the top general of US Central Command, told reporters that Donahue and the top US diplomat in Kabul, Charge d'Affaires Ross Wilson, were the last two US officials to step off of Afghanistan soil and onto a US military aircraft out of Afghanistan.
According to the New York Times, Taliban terrorists celebrated the "full independence" of Afghanistan. Celebratory gunfire broke out across the city in the predawn hours on Tuesday in Kabul.
"The last American soldiers departed from Kabul airport, and our country has achieved a full independence, thanks to God," Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, said on Twitter.
-PTC News
