A Fox News correspondent quoted a senior US official as saying that all US troops had withdrawn from Bagram Air Base, north of the Afghan capital.
Following speculation about the withdrawal of US and other NATO troops from Afghanistan, a Washington official announced the withdrawal of all US troops from Bagram Air Base.
Jennifer Griffin, a Fox News correspondent for National Security, tweeted that US troops had withdrawn from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
This reporter wrote in his message: “A senior US official told me that all US troops had left Bagram Air Base; “The base was the main US military air base and an hour away from Kabul (the capital of Afghanistan).”
The news came as an Afghan TV channel reported on Tuesday, quoting a US official who did not want to be named, that “Bagram Air Base, the largest US military base in Afghanistan, will be handed over to Afghan security forces.”
Bagram Air Base is located 20 kilometers south of Kabul and is the largest US military base in Afghanistan.
It has also been the main base for foreign forces, command and air operations for the past two decades, and US presidents have visited Afghanistan during their visit.
The United States and other NATO members invaded Afghanistan in 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks on the United States, and have continued their military presence and occupation in Afghanistan ever since.
Following the February 2020 agreement between the United States and the Taliban and the signing of a “peace agreement” between the two sides, the process of withdrawing troops from Washington and its allies from Afghanistan has begun.
The announcement of the withdrawal of US troops from the Bagram base came as Reuters reported on Wednesday that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan was ahead of schedule and that Washington was only a few days away from completing the process.
US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the withdrawal of US troops and equipment from Afghanistan did not include the number of US military personnel left to protect US diplomats and the embassy in Kabul and to secure the area’s international airport.
According to the report, the sources explained that the number of US troops to remain in Afghanistan will be about 650.