US Left Bagram Airfield Quietly Without a Goodbye, Afghans Say
Voice of America
BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN - The U.S. left Afghanistan's Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and leaving in the night, Afghan military officials said, without notifying the base's new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans' departure more than two hours after they left.
Afghanistan's army showed off the sprawling air base Monday, providing a glimpse of what had been the epicenter of America's war to unseat the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks on America. The U.S. announced Friday it had vacated its biggest airfield in the country in advance of a final withdrawal the Pentagon says will be completed by the end of August. "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," said Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram's new commander.This handout photo released on June 2, 2024 shows South Korean military officers check unidentified objects believed to be North Korean trash from balloons that crossed the inter-Korea border, on a street in Seoul. In this photo provided by Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea, hang on electric wires as South Korean army soldiers stand guard in Muju, South Korea, May 29, 2024.
A man takes a photograph of the election results at the National Results Operation Centre of the IEC in Midrand, South Africa, June 2, 2024. African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general, Fikile Mbalula, briefs the media on results of the elections at the Results Operation Centre in Midland, Johannesburg, June 2, 2024.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, June 2, 2024. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, shakes hand with Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin, left, and Singaporean Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen at the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore, June 2, 2024.
Supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) hold cutouts of India's Prime Minister and their leader, Narendra Modi, as they shout slogans during an election campaign rally in Amritsar on May 30, 2024. A man watching television waits for the release of exit polls published after voting concludes during its seventh and final phase amid India's general election, at an appliance store in Ajmer on June 1, 2024.
FILE - In this photo provided by Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea hang on electric wires as South Korean army soldiers stand guard in Muju, South Korea, May 29, 2024. This photo provided by Incheon Fire Headquarters shows balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea, in Incheon, South Korea, June 2, 2024.