This is the first time in 20 years that no US troops are spending the holidays in Afghanistan, and we are not sending a third generation of American soldiers to fight and die there, said US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"President Biden pledged to end America's longest war. This summer, we made good on that promise, bringing Operation Resolute Support to a close and leading an international coalition to evacuate more than 1,20,000 people from Afghanistan," said Blinken on Tuesday (local time) while interacting with media.
"We knew this would be challenging. It was. And there are lessons from the evacuation and relocation that we are learning for the future," he added. "But this is also the first time in 20 years that no US troops are spending the holidays in Afghanistan," said Blinken emphasising, "We are not sending a third generation of American soldiers to fight and die there."
Underlining that the US is the largest aid provider to Afghanistan, Blinken said that Washington will keep working to address the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan through its aid and diplomacy.
Noting that the US made good on its promises, including Washington's pledge to help every American citizen who wanted to flee Afghanistan, Blinken said that Since September 1, we've helped nearly 500 Americans depart Afghanistan.
Ending its 20 years of war in Afghanistan, the last US troops left the Asian nation on August 31 this year under a deal with the Taliban agreed in Doha in February 2020. The governments in the US have been criticised domestically for engaging their troops in the long wars in foreign countries and not bringing them back home for years.
( With inputs from ANI )
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