{"id":66798,"date":"2021-07-06T21:49:53","date_gmt":"2021-07-06T21:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/07\/06\/us-kept-exact-details-of-bagram-exit-from-afghan-commander-for-opsec-says-pentagon-spokesman\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:56:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:56:55","slug":"us-kept-exact-details-of-bagram-exit-from-afghan-commander-for-opsec-says-pentagon-spokesman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2021\/07\/06\/us-kept-exact-details-of-bagram-exit-from-afghan-commander-for-opsec-says-pentagon-spokesman\/","title":{"rendered":"US kept exact details of Bagram exit from Afghan commander for OPSEC, says Pentagon spokesman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The U.S. decision to leave Bagram Airfield<\/a> at night after 20 years without informing the new Afghan base commander of the exact day and hour was a matter of \u201coperational security,\u201d Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t done in some sort of shroud of secrecy,\u201d Kirby said. \u201cAnd as for not being able to specifically provide the hour or hours of departure, again, I think you would all understand, why we do it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a statement about whether we trust or don\u2019t trust our Afghan partners,\u201d Kirby added. \u201cIt\u2019s a statement of the fact that we have to consider that this drawdown could be contested by the Taliban<\/a>, and we have to take that into consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials announced Friday that the U.S. had completely vacated its biggest airfield in Afghanistan ahead of final withdrawal the Pentagon says will be completed by the end of August. But Afghan military officials told the Associated Press and other media outlets that they didn\u2019t know about the departure until after U.S. forces were already gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Afghan base officials on Monday told the Associated Press during a tour that they had heard rumors of a U.S. military departure, but \u201cby seven o\u2019clock in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,\u201d Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram\u2019s new commander said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Afghan forces could secure Bagram, a small army of looters invaded, ransacking facilities and rooting through storage tents before being evicted, according to Afghan military officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt first we thought maybe they were Taliban,\u201d said Abdul Raouf, a soldier of 10 years, told the AP. He said the U.S. forces called from the Kabul airport and said, \u201cwe are here at the airport in Kabul.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t