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US confirms transfer of largest base in Afghanistan to ANDSF
American troops pulled out of their main military base in Afghanistan on Friday after 20 years in the country and amid warnings from top military commanders that the country could descend into civil war without them.
“The turnover today of Bagram Air Base to the Afghanistan National Afghan National Defense and Security Forces are key milestones in our drawdown process, reflecting a smaller US force presence in Afghanistan,” Defense Department Press Secretary John Kirby said.
The withdrawal from Bagram brought an effective end to the longest war in U.S. history.
The base, an hour’s drive north of Kabul, was where the U.S. military coordinated its air war and logistical support for its entire Afghan mission. The Taliban thanked them for leaving, Reuters reported.
For the international forces, more than 3,500 of whom were killed in Afghanistan, the exit came with no pageantry. A Western diplomat in Kabul said Washington and its NATO allies had “won many battles, but have lost the Afghan war.”