US Forces Departed Kandahar Airfield This Week, Turned Base Over To Afghan Army - Reports

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th May, 2021) American forces have departed one of the biggest US bases in Afghanistan, Kandahar Airfield, NBC news reported citing three Defense Department officials.

The report said on Thursday that Kandahar Airfield was turned over to the Afghan National Defense Security Forces earlier this week.

US Central Command said on Monday that it estimated that between 6 percent and 12 percent of the entire retrograde process had been completed. The United States earlier this month handed over the US base Camp Antonik in Helmand, Afghanistan, to the Afghan National Army.

Taliban attacks in Afghanistan have increased as US and NATO forces begin their exit from Afghanistan.

The Pentagon has continued to claim that small, harassing attacks by the Taliban in Afghanistan have not had a significant impact on the withdrawal of US forces.

Biden administration officials have also said there have been no attacks against US forces during the pullout process.

The Taliban have accused the United States of violating the 2020 Doha agreement, according to which the US was set to withdraw its forces by May 1, and threatened to abandon inter-Afghan peace talks until all foreign troops are withdrawn from Afghanistan. The movement had also issued a warning that the non-aggression clause against US forces will become null starting on May 1.