U.S. troops pulling out of Afghanistan - KYTX CBS 19 Tyler Longview News Weather Sports

(CNN) - A nearly three-year long operation by U.S. troops to quash a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan is over.

According to defense leaders, the last of several hundred troops that were part of the 2009 troop surge has left the country. Back in 2009, President Obama ordered 33-thousand additional troops to Afghanistan. Their goal was to stabilize the country so U.S. and international trainers could develop Afghan security forces.

That still leaves about 68-thousand American troops still in Afghanistan, as was the case in late 2008.