Trump wants to play US vs China over Bagram Airbase: Story of military airfield in Afghanistan that Biden left in 2021

As US President Donald Trump has once again claimed of China occupying the Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, the major military airfield has come under the spotlight. Trump has also stressed that the US is going to keep the airbase.

Earlier this month, as well as today, the US president reinstated that the US will keep the big Air Force base, which is just an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.

He also said that the US cannot give up on one of the biggest airbases in the world, among the strongest and longest runways anywhere in the world.

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.

It has a significant strategic importance as it has served major US and NATO military operations in Afghanistan for many years.

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.

WATCH | Afghanistan: Taliban rejects Chinese presence as Trump vows bagram takeover

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.

The last American aircraft took off from the Kabul airport on August 30, 2021, and the US forces vacated Bagram on July 2. The airbase formally was handed over to the Taliban on August 15.

The base is currently under Taliban control, however, the US has been stressing that China made the entry into Afghanistan's airbase after they left.

Earlier this year in March, Trump made similar claims of China making its nuclear missiles, an hour away from the airbase. To this, the Taliban issued a statement denying the claims.

"Bagram is controlled by the Islamic Emirate (Taliban), not China. Chinese troops are not present here, nor do we have any such pact with any country,” it said.

WATCH | US President Trump claims China controls Bagram air base, pledges to reclaim it