Gen. McKenzie on the end of US military presence in Afghanistan: 'We did not get everyone out who we wanted to get out'

Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. is the commander of US Central Command. He testifies before Senator Armed Services Committee on April 20, 2021 Caroline Brehman/Getty Photos
According to the US Central Command, all US troops were evacuated from Afghanistan.

General Kenneth McKenzie stated that the US did not free everyone it wanted.

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On Monday, General Kenneth McKenzie (commander of US Central Command) stated that the US had completed its evacuation mission and maintained a presence in Afghanistan. He also said that they "didn't get everyone out that was our desire."

General McKenzie stated that between 1,000 and 1,500 Afghans were evacuated from Afghanistan in the past 24 hours. In total, 123,000 people have been evacuated over the past weeks. He said that these evacuations were made with a coalition from countries.

Gen. Kenneth McKenzie stated, "I'm here today to announce the end of our withdrawal form Afghanistan." "The close to 20-year-old mission in Afghanistan that began shortly after September 11, 2001 has come to an end."

"Every single US military personnel is now out of Afghanistan. McKenzie said, "I can confirm that 100%," McKenzie continued.

McKenzie stated that although we didn't get everyone out we wanted, McKenzie believes that if we had stayed for another 10 days we might not have been able to get everyone out.

McKenzie stated that the number of Americans left behind was in "very low numbers". It is not clear how many Afghan allies were left behind.

He said that the military phase of the operation was over. "The diplomatic sequel will now start."

This is still a developing story. Keep checking back for more updates.

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