Posted : 2021-07-04 10:44
Updated : 2021-07-04 10:45
An Afghan National Army soldier stands guard at the gate of Bagram U.S. air base in Parwan province, Afghanistan, July 2. Reuters-Yonhap
As American troops left their main military base in Afghanistan on Friday, marking a symbolic end to the longest war in U.S. history, locals living in the shadow of the base and in nearby Kabul were left ruing the past and bracing for what comes next.
Violence has been raging throughout Afghanistan in the weeks since President Joe Biden announced troops would withdraw unconditionally by Sept. 11.
With peace talks in Qatar stuttering, and roughly a quarter of the country's districts having fallen to the Taliban in recent weeks according to one study, many are concerned that chaos looms.