Afghan officials rebuke Trump's Bagram demands, vow defence of sovereignty

Kabul, Sep 21 (IANS) Afghan officials have sharply rejected US threats to reclaim Bagram Air Base, emphasising that any attempt to reestablish a foreign military presence would be met with unyielding resistance.

Mullah Tajmir Jawad, first deputy of the General Directorate of Intelligence, responded to calls for the US to retake the strategic airfield by saying the Afghan government would preserve the current system.

Echoing this resolve, Afghan Defence Minister Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid told the media, "Our answer is, if you don't leave and want bases, we are ready to fight you for another 20 years."

Zakir Jalaly, political director of the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, dismissed the notion of a US return, stating that Afghans have "never accepted foreign troops on their territory" and that any dialogue with Washington must exclude military reoccupation, reports Xinhua news agency.

This comes as Trump issued a stern warning to Afghanistan on Saturday (US time), demanding the return of the Bagram air base to the United States.

Posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump wrote, "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 earlier reiterated that Washington has been pushing to regain control of the base, which was a key operational hub for American forces following the September 11, 2001, attacks.

Addressing reporters on Friday, he confirmed that discussions with Afghanistan on the matter were underway.

The Bagram air base, once the largest US military installation in Afghanistan, was taken over by the Taliban after the withdrawal of American forces in 2021.

Trump, who has been criticising his predecessor Joe Biden over giving up Bagram airbase during the US withdrawal in August 2021, told reporters in London on Thursday that "We want to retake it."

The Bagram airbase, 50 km north of Kabul, had served as the main military base of US troops in Afghanistan during the 20-year military presence of US-led military coalition forces, which ended in August 2021 and paved the way for the collapse of the western-backed forces and takeover of power by the current Afghan regime.

--IANS

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