US suspends diplomatic presence in Kabul, transfers operations to Doha

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a press briefing in Washington has said the withdrawal from Afghanistan was a massive military, diplomatic and humanitarian undertaking and one of the most challenging the United States has ever carried out.

He said the United States has suspended its diplomatic presence in Kabul and transferred its operations to Doha.

America’s top diplomat, speaking just hours after the final evacuation flights left Kabul, said a small number of US citizens, “under 200” but likely closer to just 100, remained in the country.

Earlier, announcing the withdrawal, commander of the US Central Command, General Frank McKenzie told a Pentagon briefing that the chief US diplomat in Afghanistan Ross Wilson was on the last C-17 flight out.

Read more: US COMPLETES WITHDRAWAL OF FORCES FROM AFGHANISTAN AFTER 20-YEAR WAR

The United States (US) has completed the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, ending the 20 years of invasion into the country.

Forced into a hasty and humiliating exit, Washington and its NATO allies carried out a massive but chaotic airlift over the past two weeks, but still left behind tens of thousands of Afghans who helped Western countries and might have qualified for evacuation.