In Photos: Last Of U.S., British Troops Leave Afghanistan's Helmand Province

By Eyder Peralta / NPR

Published October 27, 2014 at 11:53 AM PDT

This story was published more than 10 years ago.

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U.S. Marines, sitting inside the cargo hold of a C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft headed to Kandahar.

Marines prepare to depart upon the end of operations for Marines and British combat troops in Helmand Monday. A fleet of planes and helicopters airlifted the last U.S. and British forces from a key base in southern Afghanistan on Monday, a day after the international coalition closed the massive facility and handed it over to the Afghan military.

Marines are seen on board a helicopter at Kandahar air base upon the end of operations for the Marines and British combat troops in Helmand on Monday.

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CH-53E and Chinook helicopters with U.S. Marines take off from Camp Bastion in Helmand province, on Monday.

A U.S. Marine unloads ammunition from a rifle magazine into his helmet after arriving in Kandahar on Monday, after British and U.S. forces withdrew from the Camp Bastion-Leatherneck complex in Helmand province.

This morning, the last of American and British troops left Camps Leatherneck and Bastion in Afghanistan's Hemland Province. As we've reported, this a big deal symbolically, because Hemland saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the 13-year American-led war.

Over at Parallels, NPR's Sean Carberry takes a look at the big picture, asking, "With Marines gone, can the Afghan Army hold off the Taliban?"

Here we'll leave you some images from the day: