The latest US and NATO troops have evacuated Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, which has been at the center of the fight against militants for the past 20 years, US defense officials said.
This withdrawal could mean that the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan is imminent.
President Joe Biden has already said that US troops will withdraw from Afghanistan before 9/11.
But the vast military base north of Kabul is evacuated as the Taliban advance into various parts of Afghanistan.
September 11 marks the twentieth anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the United States. About 3,000 people died in the attacks.
The attacks were led by al-Qaeda, an international militant group based in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda has had the support of the Taliban in Afghanistan, which has ruled the country since the 1990s.
US-led coalition forces invaded Afghanistan in the same year to defeat both groups.
Now the US is ending its longest war after inflicting heavy casualties and leaving the security of Afghanistan to the Afghan government.
Some 2,500 to 3,500 US troops are believed to have been in Afghanistan until recently and are now preparing to go home with 7,000 more coalition troops.
After that, fewer than 1,000 US troops will remain in Afghanistan.
The first target of the Taliban
Analysis, Liz Dossett: Central Correspondent for International Affairs
Bagram is a sign of what is to come. A symbol of American military might, the base was once under Soviet control. Now, the challenge for the Afghan security forces will be how to control the city within the city.
Bagram is important, both symbolically and strategically. Taliban fighters who advance in different districts of the country seek the same reward. Also last October, people from the city around the base told us that the Taliban were among them.
On a recent visit to the military base while the United States was packing, we heard how the Afghan security forces see it as a joy.
The base is rich in military resources, but it is also the primary target of the Taliban. The corrupt commanders and others are also watching.
The countless Afghans whose lives and jobs depended on the base now feel lonely, and for them the new Bagram chapter is cause for concern.
Why is Bagram so important?
The base was founded by Soviet forces after the invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s. It is located 40 km north of Kabul and is named after a nearby city.
The US-led coalition seized the base in December 2001, housing 10,000 soldiers.
It has two runways, of which the new runway is 3.6 km long, where large cargo ships and bombers can land.
According to the Associated Press, it has 110 aircraft parking spaces with bombproof walls to protect it, a 50-bed hospital, a trauma center, three operating theaters, and a state-of-the-art dental clinic.
Its hangars and buildings also house the prisons where the US military was held at the height of the conflict.
It has been called "Guantanamo Bay in Afghanistan" in honor of the notorious US military prison in Cuba.
Bagram is one of the sites cited in a US Senate report that the CIA interrogated al-Qaeda agents in these detention centers under torture.
What happens next?
An official transfer from Bagram is expected on Saturday, an Afghan official told Reuters.
According to the Associated Press, some 650 US troops are expected to remain in Afghanistan to protect diplomats and help secure Kabul International Airport.
He is accompanied by the Turkish troops of the US-NATO alliance that oversees the airport and is working on a new security agreement with the Afghan government.
The US airport security system has a rocket and bombing protection system, operated by US troops and supported by helicopters.
Other US troops will guard the US embassy in Kabul.
Military analysts say the Afghan government's ability to retain control of Bagram will play a key role in defending Kabul and resisting the Taliban.
The Taliban have stopped attacking coalition forces since they signed the deal in February last year, but have continued to attack government forces.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP he welcomed the withdrawal of US troops from Bagram and said he "will allow the Afghans to decide their own future".
It is estimated that 47,000 Afghan civilians and about 70,000 Afghan soldiers, as well as 2,442 US soldiers and more than 3,800 US private security contractors were killed in the fighting.
1,144 soldiers from other allied countries died.
Brown University's Coast of War Project estimates US spending on the war to be around £ 20.26 trillion.
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