Final American Planes Depart Afghanistan After 20 years

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN –– After nearly twenty years of having a constant presence in Afghanistan, the last American planes departed the war-torn country on Monday.

During a press conference, General McKenzie, Commander of US Central Command, confirmed the last C-17 plane departed the Kabul airport at 3:29 p.m. EST.

Over the 18 days, more than 123,000 civilians were evacuated by the U.S. and other countries.

According to McKenzie, no American citizens were aboard the last few flights out of Kabul. An earlier report released by the U.S. State Department stated approximately 250 Americans who wished to evacuate remained in the country.

“There’s a lot of heartbreak. We did not get everybody out that we wanted to get out,” said Gen. McKenzie.

The evacuation of the remaining Americans and Afghan allies will now be handled by the State Department. According to the Pentagon, no evacuees were left at the airport as the last American flight departed.

McKenzie also confirmed, "every single US service member is now out of Afghanistan."

The departure of the Americans was celebrated with gunshots. In a video posted to Twitter by BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet, round after round can be heard in the vicinity of the Kabul airport.