 "'Bad things are going to happen': Trump demands return of Afghanistan's Bagram Airbase")
US President Donald Trump issued a warning to Afghanistan after he said on Saturday that if the Taliban does not give back control of the Bagram Airbase to the United States, “bad things” will happen. “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 in a post on TruthSocial.
Trump’s post came days after he said that the United States had sought to regain control of the base used by the American forces following the attacks of September 11, 2001. He told reporters on Friday that he was speaking to Afghanistan about it.
It is pertinent to note that the American forces withdrew from the Airbase in 2021 after the Taliban took over Afghanistan. Amid Trump’s constant pleas, the Afghan officials have expressed opposition to a revived US presence.
“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, an Afghan foreign ministry official, said in a post on X on Thursday.
Why it matters
The Bagram Air Base resides in the eastern part of the country’s key strategic borders with China and Pakistan. It was the major base of operations for the United States during the war in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. Trump often blamed the former US President Joe Biden’s government for giving up the base in a chaotic manner.
Interestingly, the Americanized base once boasted a Burger King, Pizza Hut, a massive prison complex, and shops selling everything from electronics to local wares.
During his presidential campaign in 2024, Trump spoke about the importance of the base and warned that China was controlling Bagram Air Base, which the Taliban denied. “They should refrain from making emotional statements based on unsubstantiated information,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA News at that time, denying the allegation.
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