Troops in Afghanistan: US troops in Afghanistan now likely number hundreds, rather than thousands

7/6/21 8:00PM

The United States has now withdrawn more than 90% of its troops and equipment from Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced yesterday. That update comes less than 48 hrs since reports emerged from Afghan military officials that the US military had left Bagram airfield "in the middle of the night", switching off the electricity at the base that had been occupied for almost 20 years.

‍Hundreds, not thousands

‍The update from the Pentagon suggests that the number of US troops left in Afghanistan is likely to now be in the hundreds, rather than the thousands, for pretty much the first time since 2001.

At one point in 2011, around 100,000 US troops were stationed in various parts of Afghanistan, which is not to mention the thousands of contractors and the thousands of troops from allies such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, France and others.

Much of the withdrawal from the war in Afghanistan came in the years after the killing of Osama Bin laden in 2011, who had been the founder and militant leader of al-Qaeda. Since 2014 a much smaller force of 8-10k troops has remained, although all will be gone by September 11th — the date set by President Biden for complete withdrawal.

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JetBlue is raising its bag fees as fuel costs squeeze airlines

JetBlue will reportedly hike its bag fees, as the cost of jet fuel continues to climb amid the war in Iran. It’s the latest example of carriers finding ways to push rising costs onto travelers.

Last week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel prices remain elevated, fares would need to rise another 20% for his airline to break even this year.

As CNBC reported, when one airline raises fees, others tend to follow.

Earlier this month, JetBlue hiked its first-quarter outlook for operating revenue per seat mile to between 5% and 7%, saying that strong Q1 demand helped “partially offset additional expenses realized from operational disruptions and rising fuel costs.” Now, the carrier appears to be making moves to further boost revenue to offset those costs.

Earlier on Monday, JetBlue rival Alaska Air lowered its Q1 profit forecast. The refining margins for the carrier’s cheapest fuel option — sourced from Singapore and representing about 20% of Alaska’s overall supply — have spiked 400% since February.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to a request for comment.