Last US serviceman leaves Afghanistan, officially ending 20-years long war in Afghanistan

Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue boarding a plane to leave Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 30, 2021. U.S. Central Command via AP

New video captures the moment a decorated American soldier boarded a military cargo jet in Afghanistan shortly before midnight Tuesday, becoming the country's final US service member to leave.

The resignation of Maj. Gen. Donahue, commander of the United States Army's 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, signaled the conclusion of the United States' longest war, which lasted over two decades.

The photo's release also marked the end of the US operation to evacuate American citizens, Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and vulnerable Afghans, according to a statement from US Central Command.

Donahue, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, has served in the Army since 1992.

According to a 2020 description of him on the Army's official website, the two-star general has been deployed at least 17 times in support of operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and other locations.

Donahue also served in the Pentagon as a Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was awarded a US Army War College Fellowship at Harvard University.

The last C-17 plane took out from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul at 11:59 p.m. local time on Aug. 31, barely hours before the country's troop withdrawal deadline of Aug. 31.

According to Gen. Frank McKenzie Jr., the chief of US Central Command, more than 79,000 individuals have been transported out of Kabul airport on US military aircraft since Aug. 14, including 6,000 Americans and 73,500 Afghans and third-country citizens.

When civilians airlifted out by members of the US-led coalition are included, the total number of people evacuated exceeds 123,000.

However, up to 200 Americans and tens of thousands of Afghan supporters were left behind.

Publish : 2021-08-31 09:52:00

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