Taliban Rejects US Efforts To Return Pentagon Counterterror Troops To Bagram Air Base

President Trump wants Afghanistan’s Bagram „back” – as he said while in the United Kingdom alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday.

„We gave it to them for nothing,” he said in reference to the Taliban, after long criticizing the botched Biden-ordered US withdrawal from the country. „We want that base back,” he said.

Bagram airbase file image

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal is reporting that senor US admin officials are currently in discussions with the Taliban about re-establishing a small US military presence there.

The Pentagon is seeking to have a central Asian launchpad for 'counterterrorism’ operations there. The only problem is, their 'host’ would literally be Islamist radicals and terrorists – namely the Taliban.

WSJ details, „President Trump’s surprise announcement Thursday that he is seeking to reclaim Bagram Air Base is a potential component of a broader diplomatic effort to normalize relations with the Taliban, the people said.”

„The talks—which are led by special envoy for hostage response Adam Boehler—include a potential prisoner exchange, a possible economic deal and a security component, according to a U.S. official,” the report continues.

However, for now it seems the Taliban government has rejected the proposal, which could see manned aircraft or possibly drones operate out of the massive airbase which sites north of Kabul.

“We’re trying to get it back, because they need things from us. We want that base back,” Trump had said Thursday from England.

The Taliban’s foreign minister Zakir Jalaly, wrote the following in a new social media post:

“Afghanistan and America need to engage with each other and can have economic and political relations based on mutual respect and common benefits, without America having military presence in any part of Afghanistan,” Jalaly wrote. “Military presence has never been accepted by Afghans in history, and this possibility was completely rejected during the Doha talks and agreement, but doors to other engagements have been opened.”

’Impossible’ – Kabul is now saying. Indeed US troops in the heart of Afghanistan might also be essentially sitting ducks for potential attacks from various armed militant groups, or even the Talban itself.

Islamists have long boasted of their possession of the prized, sprawling base:

This is Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, and it will remain under the control of the Islamic Emirate as long as this true system and ideology endures. pic.twitter.com/QAR4JFZQu9

— W.A. Mubariz – وکیل احمد مبارز (@WakeelMubariz) September 19, 2025

Washington has long been worried that in the wake of its withdrawal, China’s military could move in – or the PLA military might even make use of Bagram. Over the years, some reports even claimed Chinese troops already initiated a presence there.