A Taliban functionary has rejected the idea that the US could regain a crucial airbase in Afghanistan after President Donald Trump told journalists he wanted it back.
Zakir Jalal, who works in the Taliban’s foreign ministry, said the idea of the US maintaining any military presence in Afghanistan was” fully” rejected during addresses between the two sides before the Taliban returned to power.
It came after the US chairman suggested regaining Bagram airbase- the epicentre of Nato forces in Afghanistan for two decades- might be possible” because they need effects from us”.
The base was handed to the Afghan service shortly before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
Trump said at a press conference in the UK on Thursday the US” gave it to them for nothing”.
The complete pullout of US colours was part of a deal inked during Trump’s first administration in 2020, and finished under Joe Biden’s in 2021.
But Trump said in March he’d planned to keep Bagram airbase” not because of Afghanistan but because of China”.
Trump reiterated the significance of its position on Thursday, saying one reason to take Bagram back was because” it’s an hour down from where China makes its nuclear munitions”.
It’s unclear exactly what he’s pertaining to a BBC corroborate disquisition in July noted there’s a nuclear testing point about 2,000 km( 1,243 long hauls) down, in north- western China.
Trump has also constantly said that China has since established a presence at the base, which is north of the capital, Kabul. The Taliban have denied the claim.
But a BBC disquisition which examined 30 satellite images from late 2020 to 2025- set up veritably little exertion at the base since the Taliban returned, and no substantiation to support China’s presence at the base.
On Friday, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said” China felicitations Afghanistan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty”, adding that” the future of Afghanistan should be in the hands of Afghan people”.
The Taliban’s Zakir Jalal, meanwhile, wrote on social media platform X” Throughout history, Afghans have n’t accepted a military presence, and this possibility was fully rejected during the Doha addresses and agreement, but the doors are open to other engagement.”
The US and the Taliban have been involved in addresses lately, although a meeting on Saturday with the Taliban’s foreign minister concentrated on Americans held in Afghanistan, news agency Reuters reported.
