Donald Trump has warned Afghanistan that “bad things” will happen unless the country’s largest airbase is “given back”.
It marks the latest escalation in the ongoing dispute between the US President and the Taliban over the Bagram airbase.
Posting on social media on Saturday evening, Mr Trump said: “If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, bad things are going to happen.”
The topic of the base used by American forces following the attacks of September 11, 2001, was raised by the President on Thursday during a press conference with Sir Keir Starmer.
He told reporters: “One of the biggest air bases in the world. We gave it to them [the Taliban] for nothing.
“We’re trying to get it back, by the way.
“We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back.
“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.”
PICTURED: The Taliban at Bagram Airbase celebrating the anniversary of their takeover of Afghanistan
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GETTY
When asked on Saturday about whether he would send US troops to retake the base, Mr Trump said: “We won’t talk about that.”
He told reporters at the White House: “We’re talking now to Afghanistan and we want it back and we want it back soon, right away.
“And if they don’t do it – if they don’t do it, you’re going to find our what I’m gonna do.”
However, Afghan officials have opposed a renewed US presence in the country.
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PICTURED: Bagram Airbase in July 2021 after it was vacated by US forces
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REUTERS
Mufti Abdul Mateen Qaneh, a spokesman for the Taliban, called the President’s comments “far from the facts and filled with hatred”.
He told The Telegraph: “We will never hand over Bagram to anyone. Such remarks are baseless and strange.”
Current and former US officials have also warmed that re-occupying the airbase could appear as a re-invasion of the country.
During the two decades America was at war in Afghanistan, the airfield in Bagram was the main base for US forces.
Donald Trump discussed Bagram Airbase while in a press conference with Sir Keir Starmer
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PA
At the time, it housed fast-food restaurants like Burger King and Pizza Hut, and a wide variety of shops.
It also included a large prison complex.
However, it was abandoned by US forces in July 2021, shortly before control of the country was seized by the Taliban.
Mr Trump has heavily criticised former President Joe Biden over the American withdrawal from the region.
