News of the progress on the Afghanistan withdrawal comes days after the U.S. military vacated Bagram air base, the focal point of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan for the last 20 years. The U.S. has officially handed over seven facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense, including Bagram.
While the Pentagon has completed the vast majority of the withdrawal in just two months since Biden announced the decision in May, the White House has said the drawdown will not be fully complete until the end of August.
As the military continues moving troops and equipment out of the country, the Taliban has dramatically gained ground in recent days. Overall, the Taliban controls 188 of the country’s 407 districts, and contests another 135.
In the last six days alone, the group has taken control of 10 percent of the country, most of them in critical areas, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which has closely tracked the conflict. / politico
