USA – Donald Trump on Thursday threatened of “bad things” to happen if Afghanistan didn’t return the Bagram Air Base to American control.
“If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” Trump wrote on his social media company, Truth Social.
On Friday, Trump said that discussions about reestablishing a small US military presence at the base in Afghanistan are underway.
“We’ll see what happens with Bagram. We’re talking to Afghanistan. It should have never been given up,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
Before attending the American Cornerstone Institute Founder’s Dinner in Mt. Vernon, a reporter asked whether he was ruling out troops on the ground to regain control of the base.
“We won’t talk about that. We are talking now to Afghanistan and we want it back and want it back soon, right away and if they don’t, you are going to find out what I’m going to do,” Trump replied.
The Wall Street Journal, citing an anonymous US official, reported that the Trump administration is holding preliminary discussions with the Taliban.
Talks are being led by special envoy for hostage response Adam Boehler and cover possible prisoner exchanges, economic arrangements, and a security component.
“There was no reason to give it up … We were going to keep Bagram, the air base,” Trump said.
Kabul Urges US not to Threaten Afghanistan’s Territorial Integrity
Kabul on Sunday urged the US to not “threaten” Afghanistan’s territorial integrity after President Donald Trump warned “bad things” would happen if the interim Taliban administration does not cede control of Bagram Air Base to the Pentagon.
“It has been consistently communicated to the United States in all bilateral negotiations that, for the Islamic Emirate, Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity are of the utmost importance,” Hamdullah Fitrat, the interim administration deputy spokesman, wrote on US social media company X.
He said that under the 2020 Doha Agreement, the US vowed that “it will not use or threaten force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan, nor interfere in its internal affairs.”
Under the 2020 deal between the Taliban and Trump’s first administration, all foreign forces vacated Afghanistan by 2021, after which Taliban formed an interim administration which now rules the war-scarred country.
Fitrat urged the US side to “remain faithful to their (Doha) commitments,” calling on Washington to adopt a policy of “realism and rationality” rather than “repeating past failed approaches.”
Bagram, located north of Kabul, was the largest US installation during the 20-year war in Afghanistan before America’s full withdrawal in 2021.
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