U.S. Army soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division return home from deployment in Afghanistan, at Fort Drum, New York. For the first time since 2001, there are no American troops in Afghanistan after the United States completed the evacuation of most of its citizens and thousands of at-risk Afghans. The United States on August 30 completed its military withdrawal from Afghanistan after a huge but chaotic airlift that cost the lives of 13 U.S. troops and left behind thousands of Afghans and hundreds of Americans still seeking an escape from Taliban rule.