Afghanistan Rejects U.S. Return to Bagram Air Base
KABUL — The Taliban on Friday dismissed talk of a U.S. military return to Afghanistan after former President Donald Trump claimed Washington was seeking to regain control of Bagram Air Base, the country’s largest former American installation, according to Arab News.
Bagram, built by the Soviet Union in the 1950s and seized by U.S. forces after the 2001 invasion, served as the nerve center of America’s two-decade war. Its hurried abandonment in 2021 became a symbol of the chaotic withdrawal that ended Western military involvement.
Trump, speaking alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Thursday, said his administration was “working to get it back,” arguing the base was too strategically important to have been surrendered. He cited Bagram’s proximity to China, saying, “It’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”
Afghanistan’s response was swift. “Afghans have never accepted a foreign military presence,” Foreign Ministry official Zakir Jalaly said on social media. He added that while economic and political engagement with Washington remained possible, “the U.S. will have no military presence in any part of Afghanistan.”
The United States has not recognized the Taliban government since it seized Kabul following the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops under the Doha Agreement negotiated during Trump’s own presidency. Contacts have largely been limited to hostage talks and humanitarian concerns.
Analysts say Bagram still carries immense strategic value for Washington. “The base provides a vantage point over China, Russia, and Iran,” said Abdul Saboor Mubariz of the Center for Strategic and Regional Studies in Kabul. “It could enable intelligence gathering, limited strikes, and covert operations.”
Yet experts doubt Kabul would ever concede to renewed U.S. military presence. “As long as the Taliban remain in power, such cooperation is highly improbable,” Mubariz said.
Still, the base’s importance is only rising, argued Alef Khan Atif, a political science lecturer at Dawat University. “In light of China’s military expansion and its growing ties with Russia and Iran, Bagram would be a critical foothold for America to project power across Central and South Asia,” he said.
For now, Kabul’s rejection underscores the deep mistrust lingering after two decades of conflict — and the shifting balance of power in a region where U.S. influence is steadily eroding.
