From New York Times, I'm Michael Obaro. This is it, Ailey.

Last night, after a 20-year war that claimed more than 170,000 lives,

cost over $2 trillion and failed to defeat the Taliban.

The United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

I spoke with my colleague Eric Schmidt about the final hours of the American occupation.

It's Tuesday, August 31st.

Eric, we are talking to you at 6.45 on Monday night. A lot has just happened in Kabul.

And I want to start by asking you to describe the last few hours there.

So in the last few hours, the last five American military planes carrying the last American troops in Afghanistan,

including the General and top diplomat in the United States, left Afghanistan.

The last of the troops were loaded onto these planes and then shortly before midnight,

these gray C-17 transport jets, one by one, took turns speeding down the single runway

and took off under the blanket of darkness into the Afghan sky.

In the streets of Kabul, there were celebratory gunfire from Taliban fighters celebrating the departure of the last American troops

who they had been fighting for 20 years in their country.

The final victory of their forever war.

Good afternoon, everybody. I'm going to turn the depotium over to General Frank McKenzie, Commander of U.S. Central Command.

He'll have some opening comments.

And shortly after that, the overall commander, General Frank McKenzie said,

Good afternoon, everyone. I'm here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan

in the end of the military mission to evacuate American citizens that the evacuation operations had closed.

The Knights would draw signifies both the end of the military component of the evacuation

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