Posted by on July 6, 2021 1:22 pm
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An Afghan National Army helicopter takes off inside Bagram Air Base following the departure of US forces
An Afghan National Army helicopter takes off inside Bagram Air Base following the departure of US forces

  • US forces departed Bagram Airfield, a major base in Afghanistan, at three o'clock in the morning.
  • They left behind millions of items, from energy drinks and MREs to armored vehicles, the AP reported.
  • When US forces left, they turned off the power. Then looters rolled in, grabbing anything they could.
  • See more stories on Insider's business page.

When US forces pulled out of Bagram Airfield, a strategic air base in Afghanistan, in the middle of the night, they left behind everything from bottles of water and energy drinks to civilian and armored vehicles, an Afghan general told the Associated Press.

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan is 90% complete, US Central Command said Tuesday, revealing that 984 C-17 Globemaster III transport aircraft loads of materials have been flown out of the country while over 17,000 pieces of equipment have been destroyed.

That said, the rushed nature of the withdrawal, which is expected to be largely completed by the end of August, has seen a lot get left behind.

An Afghan security force member standing amid things left behind by the US forces that departed Bagram
An Afghan security force member standing amid things left behind by the US forces that departed Bagram

At around 3 a.m. last Friday, US troops left Bagram, a large base that has been continuously occupied by US forces since it was first captured during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan.

US forces headed out without informing the new Afghan commander, Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, who did not even know the American troops were gone until about two hours after their departure.

Kohistani told the AP that the US military left behind 3.5 million items, some larger than others and many of them itemized.

An Afghan soldier plays a guitar that was left behind after the American military departed Bagram
An Afghan soldier plays a guitar that was left behind after the American military departed Bagram

Among the things the US military left were tens of thousands of bottles of water and energy drinks, as well as meals-ready-to-eat (MREs), the AP reported. There were also many personal items, like the guitar seen in the above photo.

A general view of vehicles that were left after the US forces left Bagram airfield in the north of Kabul, Afghanistan
A general view from July 5, 2021 of vehicles that were left after the US forces left Bagram Airfield

There were also thousands of civilian vehicles, including many that no longer had keys, and hundreds of armored military vehicles, such as Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.

An Afghan army soldier walks past Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, MRAP, that were left after the American military left Bagram
An Afghan army soldier walks past Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, MRAP, that were left after the American military left Bagram.

US forces also left some ammunition and weaponry, though most of the heavy weapons were either taken by the departing troops or destroyed.

Scrap left after the US forces left Bagram
Scrap left after the US forces left Bagram.

When US forces left Bagram, they shut off the power to the base. In the darkness in the dead of night, looters rolled in, grabbing anything and everything, from used laptops to gas canisters. Some Afghans who got their hands on the gear have been seen selling off secondhand US military equipment.

The AP reported that on Monday, Afghan soldiers at Bagram Airfield were seen cleaning up trash left by the looters.

An Afghan man rests in his shop as he sell US secondhand materials outside Bagram air base, after American troops vacated it.
An Afghan man rests in his shop on July 5, 2021 as he sell US secondhand materials outside Bagram air base, after American troops vacated it.

As the US withdraws its forces, sometimes in a manner seemingly at odds from the "orderly and safe" departure the Pentagon has said it seeks, the Taliban have been gaining ground, especially in northern Afghanistan.

"You look at the security situation, it's not good. The Afghans recognize it's not good. The Taliban are on the move. We are starting to create conditions here that won't look good for Afghanistan in the future if there's a push for a military takeover," Gen. Scott Miller, the top US general in Afghanistan, said in a recent interview.

An Afghan National Army soldiers stands watch at Bagram after the departure of US forces
An Afghan National Army soldiers stands watch at Bagram after the departure of US forces.

"We should be concerned," he said in the interview that aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week," explaining that he fears people will lose hope and accept that the collapse of the Afghan government is a forgone conclusion.

Some intelligence assessments have suggested the Afghan government could fall within six to 12 months of the withdrawal of US forces, possibly sooner, but both President Joe Biden and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani have pushed back on these assessments.

Read the original article on Business Insider