US troops have begun their withdrawal from Kabul airport, the Pentagon announced Saturday, after a more than two-week operation to evacuate US citizens and their Afghan allies whose lives are at risk under the Taliban.
A US official told the Reuters news agency that there were fewer than 4000 troops left at the airport, of the 5800 that were sent for the evacuation mission. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby later confirmed to reporters that the withdrawal had begun, but declined to give a number on how many US forces were still in Kabul.
As they leave Afghanistan, the US also announced that it had killed two Islamic State militants. "The drone strike killed two attack planners at Kabul airport and wounded another in Nangarhar province," said US Army Major General William Taylor.
The airstrike was launched across Afghanistan less than 48 hours after the deadly attack on Kabul airport that killed 13 Americans and 169 Afghans. President Joe Biden declared on Thursday that the perpetrators of the attack would not be able to hide. "We will find you and make you pay," said the president.
The Taliban also reacted to this attack.
"The Americans should have informed us before they carried out the air attack. It was a clear attack on Afghan territory," a Taliban spokesman told Reuters.
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American withdrawal from Afghanistan ends
Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid also said the Taliban would take over the airport "very soon" after US forces withdraw and a new government is formed in the coming days.
The Western-backed Afghan government and army were toppled within days as Islamist militants stormed the country's capital on August 15. /VOA
