US left Bagram Airbase at night with no notice, Afghan commander says
IMAGE COPYRIGHTEPAimage caption
An Afghan army soldier surveys belongings left by the US military when it departed Bagram Airbase.
The US military left Bagram Airfield - its key base in Afghanistan - in the dead of night without notifying the Afghans, the base's new commander said.
General Asadullah Kohistani told the BBC that the US left Bagram at 03:00 local time on Friday, and that the Afghan military found out hours later.
General Asadullah Kohistani told the BBC that the US left Bagram at 03:00 local time on Friday, and that the Afghan military found out hours later.
Bagram also contains a prison, and there are reportedly up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners left in the facility.
The Taliban have been advancing rapidly in Afghanistan as US troops withdraw.
General Kohistani said on Monday that Afghan forces were expecting the Taliban to attack Bagram.
Speaking to reporters at the airbase, he said he was already receiving reports the group was making "movements in rural areas" nearby.
"You know, if we compare ourselves with the Americans, it's a big difference," Gen Kohistani said. "But according to our capabilities... we are trying to do the best and as much as possible secure and serve all the people."
IMAGE COPYRIGHTEPAimage caption
An Afghan army soldier keeps watch at Bagram, the morning after US troops withdrew during the night.
The US announced on Friday that it had vacated Bagram, effectively completing its military campaign in Afghanistan ahead of the official end date of 11 September, announced by President Joe Biden earlier this year.
The Americans left behind about 3.5 million items, Gen Kohistani said, including tens of thousands of bottles of water, energy drinks and military ready-made meals, known as MREs. They also left behind thousands of civilian vehicles, without keys, and hundreds of armoured vehicles, the Associated Press reported.
They took heavy weapons with them and detonated some ammunition stocks, but left behind small weapons and ammunition for the Afghans, Gen Kohistani said.
Asked by the Associated Press about the late-night withdrawal from the base, US military spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett referred to a statement issued last week that said US forces had co-ordinated their departure from various bases with Afghan leaders.
The Americans left behind about 3.5 million items, Gen Kohistani said, including tens of thousands of bottles of water, energy drinks and military ready-made meals, known as MREs. They also left behind thousands of civilian vehicles, without keys, and hundreds of armoured vehicles, the Associated Press reported.
They took heavy weapons with them and detonated some ammunition stocks, but left behind small weapons and ammunition for the Afghans, Gen Kohistani said.
Asked by the Associated Press about the late-night withdrawal from the base, US military spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett referred to a statement issued last week that said US forces had co-ordinated their departure from various bases with Afghan leaders.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTEPAimage caption
The US military left behind thousands of civilian vehicles and hundreds of armoured vehicles
Within 20 minutes of the US's departure on Friday night the electricity was shut down and the base was plunged into darkness, the AP reported - a signal to looters who smashed through barriers and ransacked the abandoned buildings. Leftover items from the base have ended up in nearby scrap yards and second hand shops.
At its height, Bagram base was home to tens of thousands of troops. It ballooned from a basic Afghan air base to a mini-city with swimming pools, cinemas, spas and imported fast food outlets Burger King and Pizza Hut.
The airfield was built by the Soviet Union in the 1950s, becoming its main base in the 1980s as it defended its occupation of Afghanistan.
It was later occupied by the Moscow-backed Afghan government and then a mujahideen administration, before eventually winding up in Taliban hands when the group swept to power in the mid 1990s.
When the US invaded in 2001, it deposed the Taliban and took control of the airbase, transforming it into a sprawling complex from which it fought its war against the group.
At its height, Bagram base was home to tens of thousands of troops. It ballooned from a basic Afghan air base to a mini-city with swimming pools, cinemas, spas and imported fast food outlets Burger King and Pizza Hut.
The airfield was built by the Soviet Union in the 1950s, becoming its main base in the 1980s as it defended its occupation of Afghanistan.
It was later occupied by the Moscow-backed Afghan government and then a mujahideen administration, before eventually winding up in Taliban hands when the group swept to power in the mid 1990s.
When the US invaded in 2001, it deposed the Taliban and took control of the airbase, transforming it into a sprawling complex from which it fought its war against the group.
IMAGE COPYRIGHTGETTY IMAGESimage caption
A pair of military boots lie on the floor next to other abandoned equipment in a scrap yard near Bagram airbase.
The late-night withdrawal by the US hands control of the base to a much less well-equipped force that could struggle to defend it from the Taliban, which has made swift advances in recent weeks across the country, seizing rural districts and surrounding some larger cities.
The group claims to have taken more than 10 new districts in the past 24 hours. Despite the movements on the ground, stalled peace talks were renewed last week between representatives of the Talibn and Afghan government in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told the BBC that they would present a plan to the team negotiating on behalf of the Afghan government and both sides would discuss it.
Gen Kohistani has roughly 3,000 troops under his command - significantly less than the tens of thousands of US and allied soldiers that once occupied Bagram airbase.
About 1,000 Afghan soldiers fighting the Taliban in the north of the country fled over the border into Tajikistan on Monday, according to officials, raising fears over the military's ability to stave off further advances by the group.
The group claims to have taken more than 10 new districts in the past 24 hours. Despite the movements on the ground, stalled peace talks were renewed last week between representatives of the Talibn and Afghan government in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Zabiullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told the BBC that they would present a plan to the team negotiating on behalf of the Afghan government and both sides would discuss it.
Gen Kohistani has roughly 3,000 troops under his command - significantly less than the tens of thousands of US and allied soldiers that once occupied Bagram airbase.
About 1,000 Afghan soldiers fighting the Taliban in the north of the country fled over the border into Tajikistan on Monday, according to officials, raising fears over the military's ability to stave off further advances by the group.
First the Soviets gave up, then USA & NATO. Next will be 5000 yo Bullyland with Belt You Down My Road projects.
ReplyDeleteQUOTE
China seeks to expand belt and road to Afghanistan in name of security as US withdraws troops
After China-Afghanistan-Pakistan video conference foreign minister says Afghans face uncertainty but also opportunity to ‘truly control their own destiny’
Risks for Beijing include a lack of cultural understanding in the region and potential accusation of creating a ‘debt trap’ for Kabul, says professor
Rachel Zhang in Shanghai
4 Jun, 2021
China has said it will seek to expand substantially Belt and Road Initiative projects to Afghanistan and deepen the “dialogue mechanism” for the region, in an apparent effort to raise its influence after the US withdraws its troops from the country.
Wrapping up a video dialogue on the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan with his counterparts in Afghanistan and Pakistan on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that while the withdrawal of US troops might bring uncertainties regarding security, it gave Afghan people an opportunity to “truly control their own destiny” and was good for the country’s long-term stability, according to China’s official readout.
“The three sides agreed to deepen the cooperation in BRI, supporting the substantial expansion of it to Afghanistan, and enhance the level of interconnection between the three countries,” Wang said.
UNQUOTE
Soviets have long left, Australia, NATO, USA also gone….now Kerajaan Allah (Taliban or otherwise) will show how to rule properly, and defeat Covid too. Maybe DaGe will help with some Belt You Down My Road projects.
ReplyDeleteWhen the effect of prosper-thy-neighbours works its magic no any meme-ed zombies would resist modernization!
DeleteThat's why yr uncle Sam is vigorously persuading the g7 to copycat the bri!
As for the US, I say "no standard"...slinking away in the dead of night.
ReplyDeleteAnd I will revise what I believe is a timeline for the Taliban to take over the country. I now believe it will happen in less than a year; perhaps as soon as 6 months.
And China will be smarter than the Western countries - China will support the Taliban regime as long as the Road and Belt projects get a toe hold in Afghanistan.
Allah's government will probably come prepared to collect the chopped arms and legs (and a head or two) to make sure the Afghanis know who is boss. They will start with "collaborators" - those who worked for the departed army, especially translators.
The Afghan Gov won't be able to stand up to the Taliban without the Big Bully and its cohorts of those vassal thugs around. Even the Taliban pun takut sama dengan the Big Bully AmeriKKKa...recall this...when the Big Bully AmeriKKKa was hunting for Osama Bin Laden, they mowed down a group of villagers walking along a path. Why? What have these innocent villagers have to do with Osama ? Because there was a tall man among this group of villagers and Osama was tall, right ? So these bunch of very brave American bullies just machined-gun right into the group, killing all of them, including children, women and of course THAT tall guy ! Mmm...turns out tall guy wasn't Osama. Osama don't do walk-about, hehe
ReplyDeleteAnd the fame of those Aussies in Afghan...slicing throats of little Afghan boys, raping Afghan women, killing Afghan villagers, joining in the 'fun' with their American brothers, hooray !
Even the monstrous Taliban betul betul takut dengan with these ohh so brave White soldiers...
Now these brave soldiers are leaving after 20 long years, suffering 3000 casualties but the Afghans died by the hundreds of thousands.
It is guaranteed that the Taliban is going to take over Afghanistan, a jihadist paradise right on China's border. These Taliban have 'grown' over these 20 years...they can converse fluently in English, even appeared on CNN and have gotten very sophisticated as well.
Also, there are about 20,000 Uyghurs militants in Syria right now. They have been fighting alongside of Al Qaeda and ISIS over the last 7 years. These war-hardened and experienced fighters would love to come to Afghanistan and creep back into Xinjiang to start another killing spree there.
Looks like China is soon to have an interesting time at the Xinjiang border, and the Western media is poised with bated breath to launch into Genocide 2.0 story-telling. What fun.