US vacates Bagram Airbase

The United States has vacated Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, a US Department of Defense (DoD) official told the AFP news agency on 2 July.

Bargram Airbase seen at the height of its operations in 2010, when it was the primary hub for all US and coalition operations in Afghanistan. In line with the wider withdrawal of Western forces, the facility has now reportedly been vacated by US and coalition forces. (Janes/Gareth Jennings)

The official, who declined to be identified, said that all US and coalition forces had now left the base, ahead of its formal handover to Afghan government forces.

All coalition forces are off Bagram,” he reportedly said. The DoD had yet to officially announce the development at the time of publication.

Located approximately 40 km north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, Bagram has been the primary base for US and coalition forces in Afghanistan since the Taliban was first toppled in November 2001.

Having headquartered Soviet forces during their Afghan campaign in the 1980s, Bagram was expanded and refurbished by US forces, with the addition of a second longer runway to accommodate the largest strategic transport aircraft in the US Air Force inventory. At the height of its operations from 2007 to 2014, Bagram Airbase hosted some 10,000 personnel (many of whom were transiting through the facility to and from other locations in Afghanistan), and a range of US combat, transport, surveillance, and medical evacuation aircraft.