President Trump reiterated name to reclaim the large airbase, however Taliban says US should interact with out searching for army presence.
Printed On 19 Sep 2025
Afghanistan has rejected a name from President Donald Trump for america army to return to the nation and reclaim the Bagram airbase.
A international ministry official declared on social media on Friday that Kabul is able to interact, however maintained that the US is not going to be allowed to re-establish a army presence within the central Asian nation.
Really useful Tales
checklist of three gadgetsfinish of checklist
Trump stated on Thursday that his administration is urgent to “get again” the bottom at Bagram. The US president, who has lengthy expressed hope of reclaiming the ability, famous that its place is strategically important as a consequence of its proximity to China.
“We’re attempting to get it again,” Trump introduced. “We gave it to [the Taliban] for nothing,” he complained, including that Bagram is “precisely one hour away from the place China makes its nuclear missiles”.
Nonetheless, Taliban officers have dismissed the thought.
“Afghanistan and america want to have interaction with each other … with out america sustaining any army presence in any a part of Afghanistan,” Zakir Jalal, a international ministry official, posted on social media.
Kabul is able to pursue political and financial ties with Washington based mostly on “mutual respect and shared pursuits,” he added.
Mendacity simply north of Kabul, Bagram, which hosted a notorious jail, served because the centre of the US army’s operations throughout its two-decade occupation of Afghanistan.
1000’s of individuals had been additionally imprisoned on the website for years with out cost or trial by america throughout its so-called “warfare on terror”, and lots of of these had been abused or tortured.
The Taliban retook the ability in 2021 following the US withdrawal and the collapse of the Afghan authorities.
Trump has repeatedly expressed remorse that the bottom was deserted, arguing that Washington ought to have maintained a small power, not due to Afghanistan however due to its location close to China.
The most recent remarks got here as Trump confirmed for the primary time that his administration has been in talks with Taliban officers.
Over the weekend, Adam Boehler, his particular hostage envoy, and Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US envoy for Afghanistan, met International Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul. Discussions reportedly centred on Americans detained in Afghanistan.
US officers have been weighing the potential for re-establishing a presence at Bagram since at the least March, in line with experiences cited by the US media outlet CNN.
Trump and his advisers argue that the airfield might present leverage, not solely over safety, but in addition enable entry to Afghanistan’s beneficial mineral sources.
The US doesn’t formally recognise the Taliban authorities, which returned to energy in 2021 after 20 years of battle with American-led forces.
