"We also remember the hundreds of service members from allied and partner countries who lost their lives during this 20-year war. The conflict, which spanned over four administrations, claimed the lives of nearly 2,500 U.S. service members and more than 100,000 Afghan troops, police personnel and civilians. In April 2021, Biden ordered the full withdrawal of approximately 3,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 of that year. Taliban forces stand guard in front of Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 2, 2021. Evacuees crowd the interior of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft, carrying some 640 Afghans to Qatar from Kabul, Afghanistan August 15, 2021.

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Persons: WASHINGTON —, Biden, Defense Lloyd Austin, servicemembers, Austin, George W, Bush, Hamid Karzai, Stringer, Ashraf Ghani, Antony Blinken Organizations: Forward Operating Base, Department of Defense, WASHINGTON, Taliban, NATO, Defense, World Trade, Pentagon, Bagram Air Base, U.S, Afghan National Security and Defense Force, Reuters, Western, U.S . Air Force, Handout Locations: Forward Operating Base Salerno, Khost province, Afghanistan, U.S, Kabul's, New York City, Bagram, Kabul, Doha, Qatar, United States