On Friday, officials said that American troops and their Western allies have left Bagram, the final active base used by the troops. This departure signals U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan after a period of almost twenty years. Afghan National Security and Defense Force took over the base on Friday.
Bagran was a sprawling U.S. base and almost a mini city. Reports say that over 100,000 U.S. troops have passed through the base.
On Thursday night, there was no public ceremony or anything else. It was a quiet withdrawal as the northern parts of the country are losing huge tracts of land to the might and power of the Taliban. The huge base, which was the hub of activities for almost two decades was active on Thursday but became quiet as it was handed over to the Afghan authorities.
President Joe Biden said that the troops would withdraw by September 11 or earlier. A group of 650 troops are staying back to protect the U.S. embassy in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. It is unclear whether the troops will remain after September 11. Spokesman for the Taliban, Suhail Shaheen told CBS News on Friday that they welcomed the handover and that they hoped that there were no more foreign soldiers in their land.
Earlier on Tuesday, General Austin S Miller said that civil war in Afghanistan could be visualized. Regional militia were gaining prominence. More Afghan security forces were surrendering to the Taliban when compared with counterattacks by the country’s forces to take back territory from them.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is putting on a brave face along with his troops as they try to contain the Taliban, but some security experts believe that it is only a matter of time before the Taliban takes over the entire country.
The Afghan War has been America’s longest war. Around 2,300 troops lost their lives and thousands have been wounded and still face problems. More than 100,000 Afghans lost their lives or have been wounded. The United States of America is the second powerful world power to withdraw from Afghanistan and the Bagram base. More than two decades ago the Soviet Union had also withdrawn from Bagram in Afghanistan after fighting an expensive war. They withdrew in 1989.
