The Taliban government in Afghanistan has outrightly debunked the claims of the US President Donald Trump to regain the Bagram Airbase in the country. Taliban has asserted that the deal with the US government is “not possible” and they won’t tolerate any bully behaviour as well. Even an inch of the Afghan soil will not be compromised and in case of any adverse and provocative action from the US, it would attract a ‘strong response’ from Afghanistan, Taliban further exclaimed.
“Afghanistan is fully independent, governed by its own people and not dependent on any foreign power,” Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Fasihuddin Fitrat said in Kabul, “We do not fear any bully or aggressor”, he further added. “Recently, some people have said that they have entered negotiations with Afghanistan for taking back the Bagram Air Base. A deal over even an inch of Afghanistan’s soil is not possible. We don’t need it”, Fassihuddin Fitrat reiterated.
US President Donald Trump, while on an official visit to the United Kingdom had said that the US is trying to get back the Bagram Airbase. He further said that the airbase will be taken back in exchange of rendering certain “things” from the US to the Afghanistan. “We’re trying to get it back, by the way, that could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us,” Trump said at a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Later, when the reporters asked President Trump about the regaining of the Bagram Airbase during a conversation in the White House, Trump again said, “We won’t talk about that, but we’re talking now to Afghanistan, and we want it back and we want it back soon, right away. And if they don’t do it, you’re going to find out what I’m going to do”. This assertion of Trump apparently had a threatening tone.
Taking on to his Truth Social platform President Trump yet again proclaimed, “If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!”.
Bagram Airbase was a strategic site for the United States in Afghanistan and the largest military base of the US in Afghanistan, during its ‘Global War on Terror’ since 2001. At one point, the airbase housed more than 1,00,000 US soldiers. The airbase has the runways that are much longer than many international airways. It is surrounded with rock-solid shelters, hospitals and large fuel depots.
Trump thus aspires to regain the access to the airbase due its strategic geographical location. Given the airbase’s proximity to China, Central Asia, Iran and the larger Eurasian region, Trump deems it as a vital spot to establish US control and hegemony in the Asian region. However, since the US and the NATO forces exited Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban government controls the airbase.
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