Updated On: 03 July, 2021 08:04 AM IST | Kabul | Agencies
It was clear soon after the mid-April announcement that the US was ending its ¿forever war,¿ that the departure of US soldiers and their estimated 7,000 NATO allies would be nearer to July 4, when America celebrates its Independence Day.

A US military air force lands at a US military base in Bagram, some 50 km north of Kabul on July 1. Pic/AFP
After nearly 20 years, the US military left Bagram Airfield, the epicentre of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaida perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, two US officials said Friday.
The airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force in its entirety, they said on condition they not be identified because they were not authorized to release the information to the media.