Trump Threatens the Taliban
According to the English section of webangah News Agency citing Mehr News Agency and Qatar’s Al Jazeera network, US President Donald Trump issued a warning: if Afghanistan does not return the Bagram Airbase to the United States, serious consequences will follow.
This threat came one day after Zaker Jalali, the Taliban’s Third Political Deputy at the ministry of Foreign Affairs, announced on Friday that the US could engage with Afghanistan without maintaining a military presence in the country.
Jalali posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account that American troop deployment in Afghanistan is unacceptable. He added that economic and political relations could be based on mutual respect and shared interests without any military presence by Washington.According to him, Afghan people have never accepted foreign military occupation throughout history.
The Taliban official also emphasized that the possibility of a US military presence during ongoing talks in Doha has been rejected.
On Thursday, during a joint press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the end of his visit to Britain, Trump stated: “Bagram is one of the largest airbases in the world. We gave it to them for free. Meanwhile,we are working to take it back.”
He continued: “We want this base because the Taliban needs our support. As you know, one reason we want this base is its proximity-just an hour away from where China builds its nuclear weapons.”
Trump criticized former President joe Biden for what he called a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and claimed it left US weapons and other military assets – including bases - accessible to the Taliban.
In February,during his first cabinet meeting after re-election,Trump said that under previous plans for withdrawal from Afghanistan they intended to keep control over Bagram-not for Afghanistan’s sake but for strategic reasons related to China-given its location just an hour from Chinese nuclear missile sites.
He further described Bagram as having one of the largest airfields globally with extensive concrete and reinforced steel runways. The airport includes a 11,800-foot (3,600-meter) runway capable of handling bombers and large cargo planes.
