The U.S. military left Bagram Airfield without informing its new Afghan commander, Afghan military officials told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
While the U.S. announced its departure from Bagram on Friday after nearly 20 years operating the base, the new commander, General Mir Asadullah Kohistani, discovered the departure about two hours after American forces had left. Afghan military officials said the base was ransacked by looters before the country’s soldiers took full control.
“We [heard] some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram . . . and finally by seven o’clock in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,” Kohistani told the AP. U.S. military spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett referred the AP to a statement from last week, and did not directly comment on the allegation.
Afghan soldiers who were patrolling the perimeter of the base also said that U.S. forces left without informing them.
“In one night, they lost all the goodwill of 20 years by leaving the way they did, in the night, without telling the Afghan soldiers who were outside patrolling the area,” one soldier said.
Earlier this year, President Biden announced plans to withdraw all American forces from Afghanistan by September 11, after two decades of war.
“We cannot continue the cycle of extending or expanding our military presence in Afghanistan hoping to create the ideal conditions for our withdrawal, expecting a different result,” Biden said at the time.
Concerns remain about the ability of Afghan forces to hold ground against Taliban militants, who have gained control of various districts in the country in recent weeks.
Source: National Review
