Afghanistan has rejected a call from President Donald Trump for the United States military to return to the country and reclaim the Bagram airbase.
A foreign ministry official declared on social media on Friday that Kabul is ready to engage, but maintained that the US will not be allowed to re-establish a military presence in the central Asian country.
Trump said on Thursday that his administration is pressing to “get back” the base at Bagram. The US president, who has long expressed hope of reclaiming the facility, noted that its position is strategically vital due to its proximity to China.
“We’re trying to get it back,” Trump announced. “We gave it to [the Taliban] for nothing,” he complained, adding that Bagram is “exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles”.
However, Taliban officials have dismissed the idea.
“Afghanistan and the United States need to engage with one another … without the United States maintaining any military presence in any part of Afghanistan,” Zakir Jalal, a foreign ministry official, posted on social media.
Kabul is ready to pursue political and economic ties with Washington based on “mutual respect and shared interests,” he added.
Lying just north of Kabul, Bagram, which hosted a notorious prison, served as the centre of the US military’s operations during its two-decade occupation of Afghanistan.
Thousands of people were also imprisoned at the site for years without charge or trial by the United States during its so-called “war on terror”, and many of those were abused or tortured.
The Taliban retook the facility in 2021 following the US withdrawal and the collapse of the Afghan government.
Trump has repeatedly expressed regret that the base was abandoned, arguing that Washington should have maintained a small force, not because of Afghanistan but because of its location near China.
The latest remarks came as Trump confirmed for the first time that his administration has been in talks with Taliban officials.
Over the weekend, Adam Boehler, his special hostage envoy, and Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US envoy for Afghanistan, met Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul. Discussions reportedly centred on American citizens detained in Afghanistan.
US officials have been weighing the possibility of re-establishing a presence at Bagram since at least March, according to reports cited by the US media outlet CNN.
Trump and his advisers argue that the airfield could provide leverage, not only over security, but also allow access to Afghanistan’s valuable mineral resources.
The US does not officially recognise the Taliban government, which returned to power in 2021 after 20 years of conflict with American-led forces.
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