Bagram Airfield
Bagram Airfield or BAF also known as Bagram Air Base is the largest U.S. military base in Afghanistan. It is located next to the ancient city of Bagram, southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan. It has a dual runway capable of handling any size military aircraft, including Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy and Antonov An-225. Bagram Air Base is occupied by the Afghan Armed Forces and the US-led Resolute Support Mission.
Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan
In the middle of June 2017 newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump gave the U.S. military decision making authority over troop numbers for U.S. military operations in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new authority includes increasing the current troop level cap beyond the 8,400 U.S. troops authorized as of July 2017. U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said in June 2017 about the authority to make decisions about how many US troops are deployed to Afghanistan without first having to get formal agreement from the White House: "This assures the department can facilitate our missions and nimbly align our commitment to the situation on the ground. Our overall mission in Afghanistan remains the same, to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces so they can safeguard the Afghan people and terrorists can find no haven in Afghanistan for attacking us or others." The broad outlines of the Afghanistan strategy have been in place since April 2017 and were described as "an increase in special operations forces to train, advise and assist Afghan forces; a more robust plan to go after elements in Pakistan that aid the Taliban; the deployment of more air power and artillery; and a political commitment to the survival of the current government in Kabul".