America's longest war is over: Biden to speak after last troops leave Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) —After two decades, the United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan, ending America’s longest war and closing a sad chapter in military history. It's likely to be remembered for colossal failures, unfulfilled promises and a frantic final exit that cost the lives of 13 U.S. service members and more than 180 Afghans.

Hours before President Joe Biden's Tuesday deadline for shutting down a final airlift, and thus ending the U.S. war, Air Force transport planes carried a remaining contingent of troops from Kabul airport late Monday. Thousands of troops had spent a harrowing two weeks protecting the airlift of tens of thousands of Afghans, Americans and others seeking to escape a country once again ruled by Taliban militants.

Biden was set to address the nation on Afghanistan later Tuesday. NewsNation will live stream Biden's remarks in the player above.

In announcing the completion of the evacuation and war effort. Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said the last planes took off from Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. Washington time, or one minute before midnight in Kabul. He said some American citizens, likely numbering in “the very low hundreds,” were left behind, and that he believes they will still be able to leave the country.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken put the number of Americans left behind at under 200, “likely closer to 100,” and said the State Department would keep working to get them out. He praised the military-led evacuation as heroic and said the U.S. diplomatic presence would shift to Doha, Qatar.

Biden said in a written statement Monday that he asked Blinken to coordinate with international partners in holding the Taliban to their promise of safe passage for Americans and others who want to leave in the days ahead.

The closing hours of the evacuation were marked by extraordinary drama. American troops faced the daunting task of getting final evacuees onto planes while also getting themselves and some of their equipment out, even as they monitored repeated threats — and at least two actual attacks — by the Islamic State group's Afghanistan affiliate. A suicide bombing on Aug. 26 killed 13 American service members and some 169 Afghans. More died in various incidents during the airport evacuation.

The Taliban triumphantly marched into the airport Tuesday, just hours after the final troops withdrew. Standing on the tarmac, Taliban leaders pledged to secure the country, quickly reopen the airport and grant amnesty to former opponents.

“After 20 years we have defeated the Americans,” said Mohammad Islam, a Taliban guard at the airport from Logar province, cradling a Kalashnikov rifle Tuesday. “They have left and now our country is free.”

“It’s clear what we want. We want Shariah (Islamic law), peace and stability,” he added.

The final pullout fulfilled Biden's pledge to end what he called a “forever war” that began in response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and rural Pennsylvania. His decision, announced in April, reflected a national weariness of the Afghanistan conflict. Now he faces criticism at home and abroad, not so much for ending the war as for his handling of a final evacuation that unfolded in chaos and raised doubts about U.S. credibility.

More than 1,100 troops from coalition countries and more than 100,000 Afghan forces and civilians died, according to Brown University’s Costs of War project.

This story is developing. Refresh for updates.

President Joe Biden holds a presidential challenge coin as he speaks with Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations Air Force Col. Chip Hollinger and others after participating in a casualty return Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, at Dover Air Force Base. Biden embarked on a solemn journey Sunday to honor and mourn the 13 U.S. troops killed in the suicide attack near the Kabul airport as their remains return to U.S. soil from Afghanistan. First lady Jill Biden is at right. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken look on as as a carry team moves a transfer case with the remain of Marine Corps Cpl. Humberto A. Sanchez, 22, of Logansport, Ind., during a casualty return at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, for the 13 service members killed in the suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 26. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
A carry team loads a transfer case with the remain of Navy Corpsman Maxton W. Soviak, 22, of Berlin Heights, Ohio, into a transfer vehicle during a casualty return at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021, for the 13 service members killed in the suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 26. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Journalists take photos of a vehicle damaged by a rocket attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. Rockets struck a neighborhood near Kabul's international airport on Monday amid the ongoing U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. It wasn't immediately clear who launched them. (AP Photo/Khwaja Tawfiq Sediqi)
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby with U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Taylor, Joint Staff Operations, conclude a briefing about the situation in Afghanistan at the Pentagon in Washington, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
A U.S military aircraft takes off from the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Wali Sabawoon)
In this image provided by the Department of Defense, a CH-47 Chinook from the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division is loaded onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, Aug, 28, 2021. (Department of Defense via AP)
Gen. Frank McKenzie, Commander of the U.S. Central Command, speaks from MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, Fla., and appears on a screen as he speaks about the situation in Afghanistan during a virtual briefing moderated by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby at the Pentagon in Washington, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about Afghanistan, at the State Department in Washington, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
In this image made through a night vision scope and provided by U.S. Central Command, Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps, boards a C-17 cargo plane at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, as the final American service member to depart Afghanistan. (U.S. Central Command via AP)