Mission is complete, General McKenzie announced Monday.
In a Pentagon briefing Monday afternoon, General Frank McKenzie stated, “I’m here to announce the completion of our mission in Afghanistan… The last C-17 took off at 3:29 p.m.” With his announcement, the U.S. has completed efforts to evacuate its remaining troops from Afghanistan, effectively ending the 20-year war.
General McKenzie said more than 6,000 Americans were evacuated representing the “vast majority of those who wanted to leave at this time.” He said the number of remaining Americans is in the “very low hundreds.”
The general said, “There’s a lot of heartbreak associated with this departure. We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out. But I think if we’d stayed another 10 days, really, we wouldn’t have gotten everybody out that we wanted to get out and there still would have been people who would have been disappointed. It’s a tough situation.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For the president and military leadership as they coordinate efforts to evacuate any remaining U.S. citizens.
- For Americans and at-risk Afghans who have not yet left Afghanistan.
- For each and every military person who has served in Afghanistan to be honored for their service, and for comfort for Gold Star families at this time.
Sources: NBC News, NPR
