Sept. 21 (UPI) — The Taliban government has rejected President Donald Trump‘s attempt to regain control of Bagram Air Base, which the United States abandoned to the Afghan government during its military withdrawal from the Middle Eastern country four years ago.
The United States left the country in a hasty exit that was initiated under the first Trump administration and completed under the Biden administration, which saw Afghanistan fall back under Taliban control.
Last week, Trump publicly demanded the facility be returned to U.S. control in a bid to check China.
The Taliban on Sunday said that it is seeking “constructive relations” with all states and that it has consistently communicated to the United States that Afghanistan’s “independence and territorial integrity are of the utmost importance.”
“It should be recalled that, under the Doha agreement, the United States pledged that ‘it will not use or threaten force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan, nor interfere in its internal affairs.’ Therefore, it is necessary that they remain faithful to their commitments,” the Taliban said in a statement shared by its deputy spokesman, Hamdullah Firat, on X.
The Doha agreement, officially as the Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan, was signed between the Taliban and the first Trump administration in February 2020, initiating the United States’ withdrawal from the country to end the two-decade war.
During a press conference in London on Thursday, Trump told reporters he was seeking to regain control of Bagram Air Base.
“We want that base back,” he said. “But one of the reasons we want the base is, you know, it’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons.”
He has since followed up with threats against 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!!!” he said in a statement Saturday on his Truth Social platform.