A US Marine Corps unit and British combat troops in Afghanistan officially ended their operations yesterday as they packed up to leave the nation and transferred a massive military base to the Afghan military.
The US and British flags were lowered and folded up for the final time at the regional headquarters of the international military, 13 years after the toppling of the Taliban’s militant regime launched what became the US’ longest war.
The timing of the troops’ withdrawal from the base in the strategic province of Helmand was not released for security reasons.
Photo: Reuters
Camp Leatherneck is the largest US base to be handed over to Afghan control as the coalition prepares to end its combat mission at the end of the year, leaving most of the fight against a resilient Taliban insurgency to the Afghan army and police.
British forces transferred the adjacent Camp Bastion at the same time.
Once a teeming compound of about 40,000 personnel, the coalition’s Regional Command (Southwest) combined base yesterday resembled a dust-swept, well-fortified ghost town.
“It’s empty now — when I got here, it was still bustling, so there were a lot of services around and people around,” said US Marine Captain Ryan Steenberge, whose task force was overseeing surveillance and security for the withdrawal and is expected to be among the last troops out.
“It is weird to see different pieces pull away,” he added.
The most recent official estimate of combined international troops at the base was 4,500 — and those last few would be gone soon, officials said.
After the withdrawal, the Afghan National Army’s 215th Corps is to be headquartered at the 2,631-hectare base, leaving almost no foreign military presence in Helmand.
Officials with the US-led coalition said the Afghan forces held their own this summer fighting season and did not lose any significant ground.
“I’m cautiously optimistic they will be able to sustain themselves,” said US Marine Brigidier General Daniel Yoo, the commander of Regional Command (Southwest).
Helmand was a major focus of a 2010 troop surge to wrest control back from the Taliban insurgency. The surge saw international forces in Afghanistan swell to about 140,000. By Jan. 1, that number is expected to be about 12,500.
The US Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan is the last US Marine unit in the country, and the British forces at Bastion are to be the last UK troops to go home.
“The guys right now are mostly looking forward to getting home,” said US Marine Lieutenant John Pratson, 24, of Leonardtown, Maryland, as his team played touch football and lifted weights outdoors on the eve of the handover ceremony.
“It’s been a long hot summer,” he said.
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