The final countdown in Afghanistan

US military commanders at Kabul airport are engaged in an elaborate choreography to complete America’s final troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by midnight tomorrow (Tuesday). The priority has been to keep hundreds of Marines, soldiers and special operations troops in place for as long as possible to ensure the safe evacuation of the last Americans and Afghans with immigration visas before the deadline passes. At the same time they have had to put enough troops on C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft and C-130 Hercules planes starting at least 48 hours before the deadline is reached to guarantee every one of the 4,000 service personnel who were still there at the end of last week are removed on time. US defence officials have acknowledged that with time pressing it may be impossible to remove all the helicopters and other equipment on the remaining flights because of the excessive space they will take up in the cargo bays. The US military has already destroyed a large amount of assault rifles and ammunition supplied to the Afghan national security forces. The CIA has also demolished a building outside the airport used for training Afghan intelligence agencies in counter-terrorism. Codenamed Eagle Base, it housed sensitive equipment. However, there is no evidence that the US has yet had to destroy or disable any helicopters, all of which have been vital during the evacuation operation. At least a dozen Chinook, Black Hawk, Apache and special operations-adapted Little Bird helicopters are on the list for withdrawal but some may have to be left behind. US defence officials have indicated they could be destroyed in an airstrike before the midnight deadline. However, those used by the US Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment known as the Night Stalkers can be flown out of Kabul individually because they have an air-refuelling capability. For the troop airlift choreography, the commanders have had to draw up flight manifests based on the requirement to continue checking visas of Afghans and securing the airport. The 5,800 troop total was cut to 4,000, helped by a decision to close some of the airport entry gates and all the roads around the perimeter. This enabled Marines of 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (24th MEU) and soldiers from 82nd Airborne Division, both responsible for perimeter security and checkpoints, to start withdrawing. The 2,000 Marines from 24th MEU had originally been airlifted from ships in an amphibious ready group in the Gulf to Kuwait before being flown to Kabul. They will return to their ships via Kuwait although, sadly, without 11 of their comrades who were killed in the suicide bombing at Kabul airport. Among the last to leave Kabul will be several hundred US special operations troops who are expected to be on the final flights out in the hours before midnight tomorrow. They will be accompanied by the last-remaining CIA paramilitary officers. Green Beret soldiers of the US Army’s 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) and CIA members of the intelligence agency’s special activities division were the first to arrive, covertly, in Afghanistan in 2001 after the 9/11 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks. The first in, they will now be the last out when the final chapter of America’s campaign in Afghanistan comes to an end tomorrow.