PNN – Taliban officials have strongly rejected US threats to retake Bagram Air Base and stressed that any attempt by Washington to re-establish a military presence in Kabul will be met with stiff resistance.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, citing China Daily, US President Donald Trump’s statements and threats regarding the retaking of Bagram Air Base have drawn a sharp reaction from Taliban officials.
Mullah Taj Mir Javad, the first deputy chief of the Afghan government’s intelligence chief, said the current Afghan government would maintain the current system and structure in response to Trump’s claims to take back the strategic base.
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Trump: Retaking Bagram base is America’s priority in Afghanistan
Also, Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid said: When the US was leaving (Afghanistan), they demanded to keep the bases. We told them if you stay, we are ready to fight you for another 20 years.
He added: Our answer is this: If you want to have bases, we are ready to fight for another 20 years.
Zakir Jalali, the third political director of the Afghan Foreign Ministry, rejected the US return to Kabul and emphasized that Afghans “have never accepted foreign forces on their soil” and that the issue of occupation and renewed military presence is ruled out in any talks with Washington.
Trump said last Thursday at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the end of his visit to the country that Bagram is one of the largest air bases in the world. We gave it to them for free. And we are trying to take it back. We are trying to take this base back because the Taliban need our help. We want that base. As you know, one of the reasons we want that base is that it’s an hour away from where China builds its nuclear weapons.
Last night, the US President also posted a threatening message on his social network called “Truth Social”, writing: If Afghanistan does not return Bagram Air Base to us, bad things will happen!