Afghanistan rejects US return to Bagram airbase

President Donald Trump’s request for the US military to return to Afghanistan and reclaim the Bagram airbase has been rejected.

Kabul is ready to engage, according to a representative from the foreign ministry, but the US will not be permitted to re-establish a military presence in the central Asian nation, according to a statement posted on social media on Friday.

Trump claimed on Thursday that his administration is pressing for “regaining” Bagram as a base. The US president noted that because of its close proximity to China, its position is crucially important. He has long expressed his desire to reclaim the facility.

Trump stated, “We’re trying to get it back.” He rebuffed the claim, noting that Bagram is “exactly one hour away from where China manufactures its nuclear missiles” and that “we gave it to the Taliban for nothing.”

Officials from the Taliban, however, refrained from putting it to use.

Without the United States having a military presence in any of Afghanistan, Zakir Jalal, a member of the foreign ministry, stated on social media that “Afghanistan and the United States need to engage with one another.”

According to him, Kabul is willing to pursue “mutual respect and shared interests” in the pursuit of political and economic ties with Washington.

During its two-decade occupation of Afghanistan, Bagram, which was located north of Kabul and housed a notorious prison, was the site of US military operations.

During the so-called “war on terror,” the United States also imprisoned thousands of people there for years without being charged with any crime or facing charges, and many of them were tortured or abused.

Following the US withdrawal and the fall of the Afghan government, the Taliban reclaimed control of the facility in 2021.

Trump has argued that Washington should have kept a small force because of the base’s proximity to China and not because of Afghanistan.

Trump’s most recent statements come as he for the first time confirmed that his administration had spoken with Taliban officials.

Amir Khan Muttaqi and Zalmay Khalilzad, the special hostage envoy of the US, met over the weekend in Kabul with Amir Khan Khalilzad, the country’s foreign minister. Apparently, discussions centered on American citizens who were detained in Afghanistan.

According to reports cited by the US media outlet CNN, US officials have been considering re-establishing a presence at Bagram since at least March.

Trump and his advisers contend that the airfield might give him access to Afghanistan’s tidy mineral resources as well as give him leverage over security.