Monday morning, the last of American and British troops left Camps Leatherneck and Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province. As we've reported, this is a big deal symbolically, because Helmand 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:
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![Marines prepare to depart upon the end of operations for Marines and British combat troops in Helmand province. 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.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/46a717e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3500x2373+0+0/resize/880x597!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2014%2F10%2F27%2F29768961_h32790910_custom-cbc5d9f1e42b96b6fa7aa5f19c214126534c67db.jpg)
Omar Sobhani / Reuters/Landov
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Reuters/Landov
![Marines onboard a helicopter at Kandahar Air Field upon the end of operations for the Marines and British combat troops in Helmand.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/189457e/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3500x2440+0+0/resize/880x613!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2014%2F10%2F27%2F29768961_h32790688_custom-3c4983c4dcc9ab0b759f5bfdeab2a0527f64c298.jpg)
Omar Sobhani / Reuters/Landov
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Reuters/Landov
![CH-53E and Chinook helicopters with U.S. Marines take off from Camp Bastion in Helmand province, on Monday.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8e1954a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/3500x2349+0+0/resize/880x591!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2014%2F10%2F27%2F29768961_h32790703_custom-42c2427b614754849dccacdee922013e7e577049.jpg)
Omar Sobhani / Reuters /Landov
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Reuters /Landov
![A U.S. Marine unloads ammunition from a rifle magazine into his helmet after arriving in Kandahar from Camps Leatherneck-Bastion on Monday.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/6d965c8/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4927x3280+0+0/resize/880x586!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.npr.org%2Fassets%2Fimg%2F2014%2F10%2F27%2F457943718_custom-9bb013a8f3466a7f3cdd93274c3a548c4319aa74.jpg)
Wakil Kohsar / AFP/Getty Images
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AFP/Getty Images