US Forces Have Reportedly Left Bagram Base in Afghanistan After Nearly 20 Years

On Tuesday, Afghan broadcaster 1TV, citing an unnamed US military spokesperson, reported that the United States' largest military base in Afghanistan, the Bagram Air Base, would be handed over to the Afghan security forces.

US forces have left the Bagram air base in Afghanistan under the ongoing full-scale withdrawal, Jennifer Griffin, a national security correspondent with Fox News, said.

A senior US official tells me all US forces have left Bagram Air Base - the main US military air base an hour north of Kabul.

— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) July 2, 2021

The Associated Press also cited a source as saying the US top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin S Miller, “still retains all the capabilities and authorities to protect the forces.”

The US and its NATO allies launched a military operation in Afghanistan in 2001, part of Operation Enduring Freedom, a response to the September 11, 2001, attacks. On January 1, 2015, the Resolute Support mission replaced the combat operation.

Washington and the Taliban* signed a peace agreement in February 2020 which, among other things, stipulated the withdrawal of all foreign armed forces from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban abating violence and guaranteeing that the country would not become a safe haven for terrorists.

In May, the United States began pulling the last of its forces out of Afghanistan.

The Biden administration initially promised to complete the troop withdrawal by September 11, putting an end to the 20-year operation in the Asian nation.

In late June, media report that the US could finish the pullout within days, but up to 1,000 troops could remain to safe guard the airport and a US diplomatic presence.

*Taliban is a terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.