It was a vivid story: After nearly 20 years of conducting war and anti-terror operations from Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, U.S. forces used the cover of darkness to quietly leave the base without even telling the local Afghan military commanders.
Multiple news outlets reported on July 2, the massive airfield was quietly abandoned by American forces, the power suddenly cut, and the troops departing on aircraft without informing anyone which, reportedly, gave looters an opportunity to ransack and rummage around the base.
“We (heard) some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram," The Associated Press quoted Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, who now commands Bagram. "Finally by seven o’clock in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram."
According to Afghan military officials, Gen. Kohistani did not discover news of the Americans' departure until more than two hours after they had left, the AP reported.
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However, reality may be somewhat different.
Since President Joe Biden ordered the withdrawal of U.S. military personnel from Afghanistan by Sept. 2021, military leaders have begun a safe and orderly departure of American and NATO forces, which includes proper handovers to local Afghan military forces. The departure of troops from a base like Bagram should come as no surprise to anybody on the ground.
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said these reports of American soldiers skulking away in the night were inaccurate.
"I can tell you is that there was coordination with Afghan leaders both in the government, as well as in the Afghan Security Forces about the eventual turnover of Bagram Air Base," Kirby said in a July 6 press conference.
"As you know, it was the seventh and the final base that we turned over to the Afghan National Security Forces," Kirby added. "You don't do that in a vacuum and this wasn't done in a vacuum."
According to Kirby, the Afghans were told 48 hours prior to the U.S. military's departure that they would be leaving, although an exact hour was not provided to them in order to maintain some level of operational security in regards to the withdrawal.
"I can't speak for the level of information that went down the Afghan chain of command," the Pentagon spokesperson said, "but I can tell you that Afghan leaders, civilian and military, were appropriately coordinated with and briefed about the turnover of Bagram Air Base."
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