An Afghan defence official on Sunday firmly rejected calls to hand over the Bagram airbase to the United States, after the U.S. President Donald Trump threatened “punishment” if Washington was not given back control of the site.
Bagram, Afghanistan’s largest airbase located north of Kabul, served as the hub of American military operations during the two-decade war against the Taliban before U.S. and NATO troops withdrew in July 2021. The base was abandoned under President Joe Biden’s administration as part of a Trump-brokered deal with the Taliban.
“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, 79, wrote on social media last week, reiterating his frustration over the loss of the facility, which he has highlighted for its proximity to China.
In response, Fasihuddin Fitrat, chief of staff at Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defence, dismissed the idea of any negotiations over the base.
“Some people have said that they have entered negotiations with Afghanistan for taking back Bagram airbase,” Fitrat said in comments carried by local media. “A deal over even an inch of Afghanistan’s soil is not possible. We don’t need it.”
The Afghan government later issued an official statement stressing that “Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity are of the utmost importance.”
Trump, who during a recent state visit to Britain publicly floated the idea of retaking Bagram for the first time, did not rule out the possibility of deploying U.S. forces to secure the facility. “We won’t talk about that, but we’re talking now to Afghanistan, and we want it back and we want it back soon,” he told reporters in Washington.
At its peak around 2010, Bagram resembled a small American town, complete with fast food outlets such as Burger King and Dairy Queen. The sprawling compound has also been the subject of repeated allegations of torture and human rights abuses by U.S. forces, particularly in connection with detainees held during the “War on Terror.”
Originally built in the 1950s with Soviet assistance, the airfield was later expanded by Moscow during its occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, before being transformed into a major U.S. military hub after 2001.
Despite Trump’s demands, Kabul’s stance suggests Washington’s prospects of regaining control of Bagram remain remote.
