Trump's hope of regaining Bagram airbase in Afghanistan dashed? Taliban official warns, 'will not allow military presence'
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Trump's hope of regaining Bagram airbase in Afghanistan dashed? Taliban official warns, 'will not allow military presence'")
Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan Photograph: (AFP)
The Taliban official who rejected the claims said that Kabul is ready to engage on other fronts, but maintained that the US will not be allowed to regain control of the airbase.
After US President Donald Trump at a press conference in United Kingdom, said that it intends to regain control of Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, which the US abandoned after the 2021 Taliban takeover, a Taliban official dashed Trump's hope by declaring that the US will not be allowed to re-establish a military presence in the central Asian country.
However, the official who rejected the claims on social media said that Kabul is ready to engage on other fronts, but maintained that the US will not be allowed to regain control.
Zakir Jalal, who works in the Taliban's foreign ministry took to X to write, “Afghanistan and the United States need to engage with one another … without the United States maintaining any military presence in any part of Afghanistan."
Political and economic ties with Washington is possible based on “mutual respect and shared interests,” he added.
What Trump said about reclaiming Bagram airbase in Afghanistan
Speaking at a press conference alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in UK, Trump said that the US was seeking the return of the base keeping in view that "China is trying to occupy" the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan.
Trending Stories
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
&im=FitAndFill=(700,400))
)
)
In May this year, addressing the US troops at the Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar, Trump 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.
About Bagram airbase
Bagram Airbase is a major military airfield, located in the Parwan province, 60 km north of capital Kabul.
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. In 1990, the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, and the airbase was left abandoned.
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.
