See pictures of US troops leaving Afghanistan after a bloody 20-year war
The Americans' combat role was declared nearly seven years ago, but troops continued in training Afghan forces and in hunting down terrorist groups. On July 2, the last troops left Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul, their main base throughout the conflict, handing it over to the Afghan military, a signal that the full withdrawal from the country was nearly completed.
Associated Press
July 08, 2021 / 22:19 IST
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U.S. Marines from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit attempt to take shelter from a sand storm at the forward operating base Dwyer in the Helmand province of southern Afghanistan on May 7, 2008. During the course of America’s longest war, more than 8,00,000 members of the U.S. military served in Afghanistan, marking it as a multigenerational fight against tenacious insurgency. (Image: AP)
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Soldiers from the U.S. Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry take on defensive positions at firebase Restrepo after receiving fire from Taliban positions in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar Province on May 11, 2009. Spc. Zachary Boyd of Fort Worth, TX, far left was wearing 'I love NY' boxer shorts after rushing from his sleeping quarters to join his fellow platoon members. From far right is Spc. Cecil Montgomery of Many, LA and Jordan Custer of Spokan, WA, center. (Image: AP)
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Soldiers from the U.S. Army First Battalion, 26th Infantry fire mortars from the Korengal Outpost at Taliban positions in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan's Kunar Province on May 12, 2009. For the troops on the front lines, sometimes this meant holding a remote outpost as mortars, rockets or gunfire hit almost daily. It also included patrols through orchards hunting for hidden Taliban, down roads laced with explosive devices. These soldiers took missions into villages, trying to build support among residents. Raids targeting militant commanders often turned into gun battles. (Image: AP)
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U.S. Marines from the 2nd MEB, 1st Battalion 5th Marines sleep in their fighting holes inside a compound where they stayed for the night, in the Nawa district of Afghanistan's Helmand province, on July 8, 2009. With the surge that began in 2009, troops wrested back territory from the Taliban in the group’s southern strongholds in Helmand and Kandahar provinces, only for the insurgents to recapture it years later when the surge receded. (Image: AP)
Spc. Paul Pickett, 22, of Minden La., right, of the U.S. Army's Apache Company, 2nd Battalion 87th Infantry Regiment, part of the 3rd Combat Brigade 10th Mountain Division based out of Fort Drum, N.Y., covers an injured U.S. soldier as a helicopter lands to evacuate the wounded after their armored vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in the Tangi Valley of Afghanistan's Wardak Province on August 19, 2009. (Image: AP)
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U.S. Marine Cpl. Russell pays his respects to Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard during a memorial service at a forward operating base with Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 2nd MEB, 3rd MEF, Thursday, August 27, 2009, in Now Zad in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. Bernard was killed during a Taliban ambush on August 14. In strategic valleys, like Korengal which were situated in high mountains by the Pakistani border or Aurangdal in the south protecting the approaches to Kandahar, cycles of troops over the years dug in, fought and tried to expand their control. (Image: AP)
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Spc. Dallas Purdy from Hockley, Texas, hangs a message of support from friends Ashley and Katie Daniels while serving with the 1-320th Alpha Battery, 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division at COP Nolen, in the volatile Arghandab Valley, Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 29, 2010. (Image: AP)
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Upon landing after a helicopter rescue mission, Tech. Sgt. Jeff Hedglin, right, an Air Force Pararescueman, or PJ, drapes an American flag over the remains of the first of two U.S. soldiers killed minutes earlier in an IED attack, assisted by fellow PJs, Senior Airman Robert Dieguez, center, and 1st Lt. Matthew Carlisle, in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan on July 29, 2010. (Image: AP)
During a rescue mission by a team from a U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, army medics carry a wounded Afghan Army soldier to an evacuation helicopter, in Kandahar province, southern Afghanistan, on August 2, 2010. U.S. Air Force Pararescumen and helicopter aircrews’ work together to evacuate wounded combatants and civilians from battlefields in southern Afghanistan. Over the course of nearly 20 years, more than 2,400 American service members were killed and more than 20,000 were wounded. (Image: AP)
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Spc. Charles Moore, left, of Angleton Texas, Pfc. Nikolai Starr, center, of San Antonio Texas.,along with Spc. Andrew Vanderhaeghen of Rochester, MN., of 2nd Platoon Bravo Company 2-327 return fires upon a sudden attack by Taliban on Combat Out Post Badel in eastern Afghanistan near Pakistan border on Saturday, December 25, 2010. (Image: AP)
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A U.S. Marine walks to pick up food supplies after they were dropped off by small parachutes from a plane outside Forward Operating Base Edi in the Helmand Province of southern Afghanistan on June 9, 2011. The smoke in the background comes from burning parachutes the Marines destroy after they reached the ground. (Image: AP)
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2nd Lt. Andrew Ferrara, 23, of Torrance, Calif., with the U.S. Army's Bravo Company of the 25th Infantry Division, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Battalion 27th Infantry Regiment, based in Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, turns from the rotor wash of a landing Blackhawk helicopter during a mission for a key leader engagement at the Shigal district center on September 15, 2011, in Kunar province, Afghanistan. (Image: AP)
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Cpl. Andrew Rundle, of San Diego, California, with India company, 3rd Battalion 5th Marines, First Marine Division, lights a cigarette for himself and First Lt. Richard Spicer, of Houston, Texas, November 5, 2011 in Sangin, Afghanistan. (Image: AP)
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The Americans' combat role was declared nearly seven years ago, but troops remaining training Afghan forces and in hunting down terrorist groups. On July 2, the last troops left Bagram Airfield, north of Kabul, their main base throughout the conflict, handing it over to the Afghan military, a signal that the full withdrawal from the country was nearly completed. (Image: AP)
