SRINAGAR: Afghanistan has firmly ruled out any deal to return Bagram Air Base to the United States, following comments by former US President Donald Trump expressing his desire to regain control of the former military hub, reports Aljazeera.
Fasihuddin Fitrat, chief of staff at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence, as per Reuters said on Sunday that “a deal over even an inch of Afghanistan’s soil is not possible” and dismissed reports of negotiations to hand back the base. An official statement later reinforced that “Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity are of the utmost importance.”
Bagram, located north of Kabul, was the largest US air base in Afghanistan and a central hub during America’s 20-year war against the Taliban. US and NATO forces withdrew chaotically in July 2021 under President Joe Biden, following a 2020 deal brokered by Trump with Taliban insurgents. The loss of the base coincided with the rapid collapse of the Afghan military and the Taliban’s return to power.
Trump, who raised the issue publicly for the first time during a state visit to Britain last week, threatened unspecified consequences if the base was not returned. On his Truth Social platform, he warned: “If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Air Base back to those that built it, United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” At a White House briefing, he added that discussions with Afghanistan were ongoing and that he wanted the base “back soon, right away.”
Built in the early 1950s with Soviet assistance and expanded by the US during the Cold War, Bagram grew into a sprawling facility resembling a small town, complete with supermarkets and outlets such as Dairy Queen and Burger King. Several US presidents, including Barack Obama in 2012 and Trump in 2019, visited the base. Human rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have repeatedly alleged abuses at Bagram, particularly concerning detainees during the US-led “War on Terror.”
