Pentagon Shares Picture of the Last U.S. Soldier to Leave Afghanistan
On Monday, the United States withdrew its last remaining soldiers in Afghanistan, capping a chaotic two-week period in which more than 123,000 Americans and Afghans were evacuated from Kabul. The withdrawal also meant the end of the longest U.S. war, clocking in at just under 20 years.
Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue of the 82nd Air Airborne division became the last U.S. soldier to step off of Afghan territory. He boarded a C-17 transport plane at Hamid Karzai International Airport just moments before the expiration of President Joe Biden’s self-imposed August 31 withdrawal deadline:
The last American soldier to leave Afghanistan: Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commanding general of the @82ndABNDiv, @18airbornecorps boards an @usairforce C-17 on August 30th, 2021, ending the U.S. mission in Kabul. pic.twitter.com/j5fPx4iv6a
— Department of Defense ?? (@DeptofDefense) August 30, 2021
The planned withdrawal was upended two weeks ago when the Taliban took the capital city of Kabul after Afghan security forces folded in the wake of the group’s advance. That development left a small contingent of U.S. forces securing the airport while being surrounded by hostile forces such as the Taliban and ISIS-K.
On Thursday, ISIS-K, an offshoot of ISIS that operates in Afghanistan, carried out a suicide attack in which nearly 200 people, including 13 U.S. service members were killed.
In the waning days of the U.S. presence, the Pentagon confirmed that the U.S. was in “daily communication” with the Taliban as to which refugees they wanted to evacuate.
