A senior Taliban terrorist responded to President Donald Trump announcing on Thursday that he was working to reclaim Afghanistan’s Bagram military base by rejecting the possibility of a renewed U.S. military presence in the country.
The comment, posted on social media by Second Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zakir Jalali, used a diplomatic tone and emphasized that the Taliban would keep the “doors for further engagement” with America open – just not at the cost of having American troops on the ground in Afghanistan. The measured rejection followed months of efforts by the Taliban to improve its relationship with the U.S. government. Taliban terrorists welcomed a Trump administration delegation to Kabul last weekend and have explicitly stated they hope to normalize relations with Washington.
“Afghans have never accepted military presence throughout history, and this possibility was completely ruled out during the Doha negotiations and agreement,” Jalali said, according to the Afghan news outlet Pajhwok. “However, the doors for further engagement remain open.”
Pajhwok reported that Jalali went on to state that “Afghanistan and the United States should engage with each other and can maintain economic and political relations based on mutual respect and shared interests — without any U.S. military presence in any part of Afghanistan.”
During a visit to the United Kingdom on Thursday, President Trump told reporters that his administration was making efforts to restore American control of Bagram, a critical air base during the 20-year-old Afghan War. Trump emphasized the base’s crucial location in the event of any conflict with China and did not identify the Taliban as the threat making Bagram a desirable location.
“We’re trying to get it back, by the way, okay? That could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back,” Trump said. “But one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons. So a lot of things are happening.”
Reuters reported shortly after Trump’s comments, citing anonymous American officials, that maintaining a presence in Bagram could require as many as 10,000 American troops present to guard and maintain the facility. Trump’s comments indicated that any process to restore America’s control of the base was in its early stages, however, and would potentially require talks with the Taliban.
The Taliban welcomed an American delegation to Kabul a week ago, but not, officially, to discuss Bagram. Taliban-friendly Afghan news sources reported that senior economic leaders met with the delegation, led by U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler and including longtime American representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad. Boehler’s presence indicated that Trump sent the delegation to discuss freedom for Americans wrongfully imprisoned by the jihadists, but Taliban media reported that, instead, the jihadist group used the opportunity to encourage American investment in the Taliban economy.
“The Economic Deputy of the Prime Minister, Honorable Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar Akhund, requested that the U.S. delegation shift from confrontation to cooperation with Afghanistan, play a role in Afghanistan’s reconstruction, and invest in various sectors,” Taliban spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat shared on social media, publishing photos of the meeting.
Jalali, who responded to the Trump comments on Bagram on Thursday, said on Sunday that the Taliban is hoping to improve American relations.
“After the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, there are no serious obstacles in bilateral relations that cannot be resolved,” he stated. “The fact that the U.S. delegation has opened its doors to Kabul marks a new and more serious phase in continuing negotiations.”
Jalali reportedly compared Afghanistan to Vietnam, noting that American troops fought a war against the communists that ultimately became the authoritarian regime of the country and the U.S. now maintains cordial relations with Hanoi. The same, he posited, could occur with the Taliban.
“If we compare Vietnam-U.S. relations after America’s withdrawal from Saigon with current Kabul-Washington relations, Kabul and Washington are in a better position,” he said, according to Afghanistan’s Tolo News.
Taliban jihadists have nonetheless insisted that any cooperation that requires the presence of American soldiers in Afghanistan is off the table. Taliban “defense minister” Mawlawi Mohammad Yaqoob Mujahid insisted on Thursday that, while conversations with the U.S. and other Western governments have been ongoing, none of them have been military in nature.
“So far, we have had no military relations with NATO or the United States. No progress has been made in this regard,” Mujahid said. “Our relations with the U.S. are focused on political and economic areas, and we are working toward lifting the sanctions imposed on Afghanistan. Therefore, we are focused on this area, and there are no military ties between us.”
Bagram was a critical military facility for American soldiers during the Afghan War. Following former President Joe Biden’s decision to violate a Trump-era deal with the Taliban known as the Doha Agreement, the Taliban toppled the U.S.-backed government of Afghanistan. Biden withdrew forces and essentially abandoned Bagram to the terrorists, who moved to immediately free the 5,000 inmates on the site. One of the inmates was later identified as the suicide bomber responsible for the Abbey Gate bombing: the massacre of 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. servicemembers at Kabul’s international airport on August 26, 2021.
In addition to the Taliban seizing millions of dollars of American equipment from Bagram, looters picked the site dry. Reports in August 2021 from the ground indicated that looters were profiting lavishly from selling a variety of civilian items – including stereo systems, laptops, guitars, and other recreational items – stolen from American soldiers in Bagram.
The Taliban has since used Bagram to stage “victory” celebrations. On August 15, 2024 – the three-year anniversary of the collapse of the previous Afghan government – the Taliban held a victory parade attended by Chinese and Iranian officials on Bagram, showcasing the American equipment Biden gifted to the jihadists.
The Taliban notably did not stage similar parades this year, the first of Trump’s second term as president.
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