Trump says US 'trying' to retake key Afghan air base

Washington, Sep 19: US President Donald Trump revealed that his administration is attempting to retake Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, asserting that it’s required due the proximity to China’s nuclear facilities.

“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. One of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it's an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” Trump said during his press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday at Chequers in the United Kingdom.

Trump made the plan public four years after the chaotic withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.

He once again criticised the previous Biden administration for the Afghanistan “disaster” and linked it to the conflict in Ukraine.

“He [Putin] would have never done what he did, except that he didn't respect the leadership of the United States,” Trump added.

Bagram is located 44 kilometres north of the capital Kabul, and was the biggest US military base in Afghanistan and the military centre of the 20-year US occupation of the country.

It’s not the first time Trump has raised the issue of Bagram airbase. In March, he claimed that Beijing controlled it.

“We were going to get out, but we were going to keep Bagram, not because of Afghanistan but because of China, because it’s exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles. And you know who’s occupying it right now? China,” he said.

At the time, the Taliban had rejected the allegations.

“Bagram is controlled by the Islamic Emirate (Taliban regime), not China. Chinese troops are not present here, nor do we have any such pact with any country,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the official broadcaster.