Taliban takes to celebratory firing Kabul as US completes withdrawal

Aerial firing using different types of weapons including machine guns dominated the sky in Kabul after midnight which frightened and awoke residents of the Afghan capitalIt was later clarified that the firings which lasted about an hour were part of the Talibans celebrations for what its called the end of the occupation after the US announced that the withdrawal of troops was completed Khaama News reportedTaking to Twitter Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the gunshots heard in Kabul are as a result of celebratory firing the Kabul residents should not worry we are trying to control itRegarding the completion of the withdrawal Mujahid added that in this way our country became completely free and independentAddressing a news conference in Washington which was held by the Department of Defence on Monday midnight Kenneth McKenzie commander of US Central Command said Im here to announce the completion of our withdrawal from Afghanistan and the end of the mission to evacuate American citizens third country nationals and vulnerable AfghansAlso read 20 years USD 23 trillion spent 2400 US troops killed Americas longest war in numbersThe last C17 lifted off from Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 30 this afternoon at 329 pm East coast time and the last manned aircraft is now clearing the space above AfghanistanMcKenzie said while the completion of withdrawal drew an end to US military presence in the wartorn nation after 20 years the diplomatic mission to ensure additional US citizens and eligible Afghans who want to leave continues reports Xinhua news agencyWhile paying tribute to the 2461 fallen US service members including the 13 troops who were killed during the August 27 Kabul bombings and the over 20000 personnel injured during the longest war Washington has engaged in throughout history McKenzie said that no American citizens managed to embark on the final five evacuation flights leaving Kabul meaning that there were Americans that were left on groundThe General said the number of US citizens currently still stranded in Afghanistan is in the very low hundreds stressing that the Department of State is now in charge of assisting those evacueesThe militarys phase of this operation has ended The diplomatic sequel to that will now begin he saidThe General added that the US will continue trying to extract the remaining American citizens and negotiate very hard and aggressively to get eligible Afghans to come to WashingtonUS media cited a State Department official as saying earlier on Monday that it was believed that there were fewer than 250 American citizens still in AfghanistanMinutes after the last service members the US left the Hamid Karzai International Airport the Taliban were now controlling the entire facilityAs per the White House and Pentagon as of early Monday a total of 116700 people have been evacuated from Kabul after the Taliban takeover according to Khaama NewsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever