'What was the point?' Afghans rue decades of war as U.S. quits Bagram

Aerial porters work with maintainers to load a UH-60L Blackhawk helicopter into a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III during the withdrawl of American forces in Afghanistan, June 16, 2021. Picture taken June 16, 2021. U.S. Army/Sgt. 1st Class Corey Vandiver/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.

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KABUL (Reuters) -As American troops left their main military base in Afghanistan on Friday, marking a symbolic end to the longest war in U.S. history, locals living in the shadow of the base and in nearby Kabul were left ruing the past and bracing for what comes next.