GOODBYE BAGRAM

Bagram Air Base—the mysterious airfield 60 km outside Kabul, where Air Force One landed in the dark of the night has been handed over to the Kabul Government. In a way it signals the exit of America from the ‘forever war’ in Afghanistan. The airbase is a singular sign of the government’s writ. Kabul will do everything in its power to retain the base while the Taliban eyes it as a key asset to be wrested.

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On July 2, the US and its allies moved out of what has been the heart and soul of the Western operations in Afghanistan—the Bagram Airbase. Handed over in its entirety to the Afghan National Security and Defence Force, the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan has been the site of the US military's war against the Taliban and the al-Qaida terrorist outfits. It remained staffed by the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing of the US Forces for nearly 20 years, while rotating units of the US Army, the Navy, and the Marine Corps also used the airfield as a base.