Taliban welcome US pullout from Bagram airbase

The Taliban say Afghanistan can get closer to peace and stability now that all US troops are leaving the country, as the foreign forces' main base, Bagram, gets fully evacuated.

"We consider this withdrawal a positive step," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters on Friday, hours after US military officials said they completed the withdrawal of all troops from the airbase in the ancient city of Bagram.

"All American soldiers and members of NATO forces have left the Bagram airbase," a senior US security official told Reuters on the condition of anonymity on Friday.

Soon afterwards Mujahid said, "Afghans can get closer to stability and peace with the full withdrawal of foreign forces."

In a separate statement, he told AFP that a "full withdrawal of all foreign forces from the country will pave the way for Afghans to decide about their future between themselves."

Though more troops have yet to withdraw from another base, in the capital, Kabul, in the coming days, the complete withdrawal from Bagram marks a turning point in bringing to an effective end the 20 years of the US-led war in Afghanistan.

Citing an Afghan official, Reuters said the base would be officially handed over to the government at a ceremony on Saturday.

The airbase also housed a prison that held thousands of Taliban inmates.

The troop pullout kicked off in May, after months of delay in a deadline agreed last year by the Taliban and Washington in the Qatari capital, Doha.

According to US security officials, the majority of American troops would most likely be gone by July 4. That would be more than two months ahead of the timetable set by President Joe Biden, who has promised to end his country’s “forever war” by September 11.

MG