Taliban issues first response on Trump's Bagram base takeover claims: 'Afghanistan won't give up an inch...'

Issuing its first response on US President Donald Trump's announcement about “taking back” Afghanistan's Bagram air base, Taliban said on Sunday (Sep 21) that such a deal was "not possible". Taliban also warned that any hostility will trigger the “strongest” response. Taliban Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Fasihuddin Fitrat in a strong respnse said that they do not need any deal over any “inch of Afghanistan soil.” Amir Khan Muttaqi, Taliban Foreign Minister reiterated the same stance and said “not even one metre of Afghan land will be given to Americans.”'

At an event in Kabul, Fitrat said, “Afghanistan is fully independent, governed by its own people, and not dependent on any foreign power. We do not fear any bully or aggressor. Recently, some people have said that they have entered negotiations with Afghanistan for taking back Bagram Air base. A deal over even an inch of Afghanistan's soil is not possible. We don't need it."

Trump announces US might takeover Bagram

Addessing a press conference in UK, Trump said that efforts were underway to regain control of Afghanistan's Bagram Airbase, which the US had given up control on following the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. He suggested it could be considered "breaking news" and explained that the US was seeking the return of the base because “it is an hour from where China makes its nuclear weapons.” Later, he also warned that if afghanistan doesn't give Bagram Airbase back “BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN.”

In May this year, addressing the US troops at the Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Trump had said that the United States will keep Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, stressing, "We will not give it up." He stressed that it is just an hour away from China, claiming that China occupies it. “We are going to keep Bagram Airbase, we are not going to give that up because its one hour away from China. You know who occupies it now, China. Sadly, over the last four years, we saw a collapse in Afghanistan,” he added. Soon after Trump's claims, the Taliban had categorically denied reports of a Chinese presence at Afghanistan’s Bagram Airbase.

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Story of Bagram Airbase

Bagram Airbase is a major military airfield, located in the Parwan province of Afghanistan. The largest air base in Afghanistan lies about 60 km north of Kabul in the Parwan province. The airbase was built by the Soviet Union in 1950 and the USSR had control over it during the early days of the Cold War. During the Soviet-Afghan war, the airbase was fortified and started lodging military personnel from the USSR. The US came in the picturee in 1959, when then US President Dwight Eisenhower paid a visit to Afghanistan and landed in Bagram.

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In 1990, the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, and the airbase was left abandoned. It then became the frontline between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance military. However, during the conflict, the airbase was severely damaged. Later in 2001 after the 9/11 terror attack, the US and its Western allies took over the Afghan airfield. For the next 20 years, they controlled the Bagram airbase, claiming that they were using it for America's "War on terrorism". In 2020, the US and the Taliban signed a deal to withdraw international forces from Afghanistan by May 2021.