Rahmat Gul
/ AP
Updated July 6, 2021 at 5:35 PM ET
Five days after the final U.S. troops left Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, the Pentagon is defending itself from criticism by Afghan military officials who have accused the U.S. of secretly slipping out overnight, shutting off the electricity and prompting a security lapse that allowed looters to scavenge the facilities before Afghan troops were able to retake control.
It is the latest mishap in the U.S. military withdrawal from the country after 20 years of military presence, a process President Joe Biden has promised will be complete by September 11th.
Bagram Airfield, about an hour's drive from Kabul, served as the center of operations for the longest-running war in U.S. history. It housed tens of thousands of troops at its peak, with planes and helicopters coming and going at all hours.