The US evacuation mission in Afghanistan finally ends on Tuesday. Analysts compared the mission to an anxious escape from the swamp.
The United States evacuated its key diplomatic delegates out of Afghanistan in the closing hours of its tumultuous departure. This is while early on Monday, anti-missile systems thwarted missiles targeting Kabul airport.
Following the largest flight evacuation mission ever, the final American forces are expected to leave Kabul in one more day. 114,000 countrymen, including Afghan nationals who assisted the US during two-decade ware, are among the evacuees.
The principal diplomatic personnel had departed by Monday morning, according to Washington sources. They didn’t provide details about the inclusion of chief envoy Ross Wilson, who was supposed to be on last lists to depart before the final soldiers.
Early reports did not reveal any American deaths following multiple rocket assaults on the airport. ISIS claimed the rocket strikes while suspicions about the group’s logistic capabilities is in the air.
In another attack by Afghanistan ISIS four days earlier, suicide bombers at the crowded airport entrance killed around 100 people. The number included 13 American military personnel.
The US has also cautioned about further terrorist threats, amid carrying out two assaults against ISIS sites. Washington claimed that in one case, the air raid foiled another attempt for suicide attack by smashing up a car laden with munitions.
President Joe Biden set a time limit for all soldiers to withdraw by Tuesday. It’s an effort to implement a deal with the Taliban by former president Donald Trump to stop America’s longest conflict.
However, the United States and its partners were exposed to a prompt retreat after failing to foresee the Taliban’s rapid conquest of the country. Loads of Afghan nationals who cooperated with Washington and were pledged for evacuation, are left behind.
Evacuation in Terror
According to Afghanistan media outlets, the rocket raid on Monday sourced from back of a truck. Several missiles impacted different zones of the Kabul, while no details about the potential casualties are reported.
US defense ministry stated a day earlier that an ISIS suicide vehicle attacker planning an assault was killed by a US strike. According to the Taliban, 7 persons lost their lives in the attack. A number of civilian were among the victims of US drone strike.
“We know there were substantial and powerful subsequent explosions resulting from the destruction of the vehicle, indicating a large amount of explosive material inside that may have caused additional casualties,” Centcom said referring to the civilian casualties.
Evacuations resumed on Monday despite the threats with persons who are considered to be in grave danger receiving priority. A group of more governments have also made last-minute demands to put persons in the priority list.
An anonymous Taliban source, quoted by Al-Jazeera, said that Taliban will assume absolute authority of Kabul airport following American exit. The US will finish the evacuation program on Sunday.
The evacuations end in one day while the United States failed to keep its final pledge to save the lives of its Afghan cooperators. Thousands of Afghans who worked with Washington and its allies in NATO are, thus, subject to threats from Taliban ruling system.
The departure of final US troops from Afghanistan ends the twenty-year presence of Washington in the country. The US entered Kabul with a pledge to destroy Taliban, restore security, political, and economic stability and nation-building project.
All the objectives failed in a woeful way leading to the escape of final soldiers in terror of death at any moment. The Evacuation mission may be the greatest lesson the US learnt in Afghanistan.
