×

We've got news for you.

Register on SowetanLIVE at no cost to receive newsletters, read exclusive articles & more.
Register now

WATCH | Gunshots and tracer bullets light up the Kabul sky as Taliban celebrates US withdrawal

Deepa Kesa Multimedia producer

The US completed the withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan on August 30 2021, closing the final chapter of a 20-year conflict. 

This comes after a chaotic evacuation of many Americans and Afghan allies from the country. 

Failing to anticipate the Taliban would conquer the country so quickly, the US was forced into a hasty exit.

More than 122,000 people have been airlifted out of Kabul since August 14, the day before the Taliban regained control of the country.

Final flights transporting the last US troops took off a minute before midnight on August 30. 

Taliban fighters took control of the airport before dawn on August 31 and gunfire echoed across the city in celebration, as fireworks and tracer bullets lit up the sky.

The war took the lives of almost 2,500 US troops and an estimated 240,000 Afghans and cost about $2-trillion (about R29.1-trillion).


Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.