"We don't get everyone out." Over 100 Americans Stranded in Afghanistan Following Military Withdrawal

By Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee - The Associated Press

More than a hundred American citizens and thousands of desperate Afghans were unable to leave Afghanistan before the United States ended 20 years of war with the launch of its latest military jets, and now they must rely on the Taliban to let them out.

"We believe that there is still a small number of Americans,

below 200 and probably closer to 100

, who remain in Afghanistan and want to leave. We are trying to determine exactly how many" they are, the secretary of state explained Monday night. Anthony Blinken, at a press conference.

Blinken said the Joe Biden government will continue to try to evacuate Americans and Afghans, and will work with neighboring Afghanistan to ensure their departure by land or charter flights once the Kabul airport, now in the hands of the Taliban.

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"We will continue our relentless efforts to help Americans, foreigners and Afghans to leave Afghanistan if they choose to do so.

Our commitment to them has no deadline,

" he said.

But "we are under no illusions that any of this is going to be easy or fast," he stressed.

["Afghanistan is free at last."

Taliban take control of Kabul airport after US departure]

Shortly after the Pentagon announced that the military withdrawal had been completed, Blinken said that the US embassy in Kabul will remain closed and vacant for the foreseeable future.

The American diplomats will be based in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

General Frank McKenzie, head of Central Command, told reporters that they 

were able to evacuate 1,500 Afghans during the last hours

of the mission.

But now it will be up to the State Department, in collaboration with the Taliban, to finalize the departure of more people.

McKenzie said

there are no citizens left stranded at the airport

and that the Pentagon maintained its ability to get the Americans out until just before the end, but "none made it to the airport."

"There is a lot of anguish associated with this departure," he said, "we have not removed everyone we wanted to remove. But I think that if we had stayed another 10 days we would not have removed everyone we wanted to remove."

[Biden pays tribute to US soldiers killed in Kabul attack]

The terrorist threat remains a major problem in Afghanistan

, with at least 2,000 members of the Islamic State (ISIS) group in the country, including many released from prisons when the Taliban took control.

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To underscore the continuing security threats, the weapons systems used to counter ISIS rockets launched at the airport remained operational until "the last minute," when the last of the US military planes departed.

One of the last things the US troops did was

disable the so-called C-RAMS

(Counter Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System) system.

["I love my job": this Marine killed in Kabul spent her last days caring for Afghan children]

McKenzie said they "demilitarized" the system so that it cannot be used again.

Officials said troops did not fly the equipment to ensure the airport is fit for use for future flights once they resume.

In addition, the general said that the United States also disabled 27

humvees

and 73 aircraft so that they can not be used again.

McKenzie guaranteed that the United States maintains "overwhelming American air power" to deal with threats from ISIS.