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On July 2nd, the US military said it had handed over Bagram air base to the Afghan army after operating it for nearly 20 years.
BREAKING: U.S. officials say the U.S. military has left Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan after nearly 20 years. The facility was the epicenter of the war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America. https://t.co/lrY0msUyUh
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 2, 2021
The airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force in its entirety, AP sources said on condition of anonymity.
One of the officials also said the U.S. top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin S. Miller, “still retains all the capabilities and authorities to protect the forces.”
The withdrawal from Bagram Airfield is the clearest indication that the last of the 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops have left Afghanistan or are nearing a departure, months ahead of President Joe Biden’s promise that they would be gone by September 11th.
The U.S. has refused to say when the last U.S. soldier would leave Afghanistan, citing security concerns, but also the protection of Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport is still being negotiated.
Turkish and U.S. soldiers currently are protecting the airport. That protection is currently covered under the Resolute Support Mission, which is the military mission being wound down.
Bagram Air Base was the most significant static US position in Afghanistan, and departing from it is quite symbolic.
When the U.S. and NATO inherited Bagram in 2001, they found it in ruins, a collection of crumbling buildings, gouged by rockets and shells, most of its perimeter fence wrecked.
It had been abandoned after being battered in the battles between the Taliban and rival mujahedeen warlords fleeing to their northern enclaves.
The enormous base has two runways. The most recent, at 12,000 feet long, was built in 2006 at a cost of $96 million. There are 110 revetments, which are basically parking spots for aircraft, protected by blast walls.
GlobalSecurity, a security think tank, says Bagram includes three large hangars, a control tower and numerous support buildings. The base has a 50-bed hospital with a trauma bay, three operating theaters and a modern dental clinic. Another section houses a prison, notorious and feared among Afghans.
The Taliban are likely to attempt and recapture it, but not yet. A Taliban spokesman said that they would make no attempt to do so now.
Taliban says “for now” no plans to try to take bagram. “right now it is not part of our strategy to capture the military bases like Bagram as our plan is to seize small compounds and installations outside the cities,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told @NBCNews
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) July 2, 2021
The Taliban said they wouldn’t capture it because they had heard the Americans destroyed everything they couldn’t take back to the United States.
Taliban claiming victory for US leaving Bagram after 2 decades. A Taliban commander telling @NBCNews “This is as a result of our sacrifices that US finally agreed to vacate Bagram airbase. We heard they had destroyed each and everything which they couldn’t take back to America”
— Richard Engel (@RichardEngel) July 2, 2021
Still, they consider this a significant victory.
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