After nearly 20 years, US leaves Bagram Airfield

After nearly 20 years the U.S. military has left Bagram airfield on Friday, the epicenter of its war against terror in Afghanistan.

Kathy Gannon, Associated Press News Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan called the move "significant" because "it effectively brings to an end what President Joe Biden called 'America's forever war.'"

The airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force in its entirety, they said on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to release the information to the media.

Most NATO soldiers have already quietly exited as of this week.

The NATO Resolute Support mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan security forces began in 2015, when the U.S.-led combat mission was declared over. At that point the Afghans assumed full responsibility for their security, yet they remained dependent on billions of dollars a year in U.S. aid.

An emboldened Taliban insurgency is making battlefield gains, and prospective peace talks are stalled. Some fear that once foreign forces are gone, Afghanistan will dive deeper into civil war.

Taliban attacks on Afghan forces and civilians have intensified and the group has taken control of more than 100 district centers.

Technically, U.S. forces haven't been engaged in ground combat in Afghanistan since 2014. But counterterrorism troops have been pursuing and hitting extremists since then, including with Afghanistan-based aircraft.

Inside Afghanistan, U.S. troops will no longer be there to train or advise Afghan forces. An unusually large U.S. security contingent of 650 troops, based at the U.S. Embassy compound, will protect American diplomats and potentially help secure the Kabul international airport. Turkey is expected to continue its current mission of providing airport security.

At the peak of the war, there were more than 130,000 troops in Afghanistan from 50 NATO nations and partner countries. That dwindled to about 10,000 troops from 36 nations for the Resolute Support mission, and as of this week most had withdrawn their troops.

IMAGE: AP