US troops leave Afghanistan's Bagram airfield after nearly 20 years

According to details, the airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force (ANSD) in its entirety on condition they not be identified because they were unauthorized to release the information to the media.

Although the US troops have now officially withdrawn from the Bagram airbase, one of its top commanders, General Austin S Miller, still retains all the capabilities and authorities to protect the forces.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 US troops have left Afghanistan.

Earlier, US president Joe Biden promised that US troops would leave Afghanistan completely by September 11.

For the time being, the US harbours around 6,500 troops in Afghanistan to protect the American embassy in Kabul.

However, for security concerns, it has not yet been revealed when the very last US soldier will leave the country.

In addition, when the US and NATO inherited Bagram in 2001, they found it in ruins, a collection of crumbling buildings, gouged by rockets and shells.

It had been abandoned after being battered in the battles between the Taliban and rival mujahedeen warlords.

The enormous base has two runways. The most recent, at 12,000 feet long, was built in 2006 at a cost of $96 million.

It has 110 revetments, which are basically parking spots for aircraft, protected by blast walls.

The base has a 50-bed hospital with a trauma bay, three operating theaters and a modern dental clinic along a section that houses a prison.