Trump issues vague threat to Afghanistan over Bagram air base

A gate is seen at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. (AP/File)

• The vague threat comes just days after he raised the idea of the United States retaking control of the base while on a state visit to the United Kingdom

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened Afghanistan with unspecified punishment if the Taliban-controlled country did not “give Bagram Airbase back.”
“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 79-year-old leader wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The vague threat comes just days after he raised the idea of the United States retaking control of the base while on a state visit to the United Kingdom.
Bagram, the largest air base in Afghanistan, was a linchpin of the US-led war effort against the Taliban, whose government Washington toppled following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
A massive, sprawling facility, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and others have repeatedly raised allegations of systematic human rights abuses by US forces at Bagram, especially pertaining to detainees in Washington’s murky “War on Terror.”
Trump has often lamented the loss of access to Bagram, noting its proximity to China, but Thursday was the first time he has made public that he was working on the matter.
“We’re trying to get it back, by the way, that could be a little breaking news. We’re trying to get it back because they need things from us,” Trump said at a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
US and NATO troops chaotically pulled out of Bagram in July 2021 as part of a Trump-brokered peace deal, as the resurgent Taliban took over swaths of Afghanistan before finally taking control of the entire country.
Trump has repeatedly criticized the loss of the base since returning to power, linking it to his attacks on his predecessor Joe Biden’s handling of the US pullout from Afghanistan.
Trump has also complained about China’s growing influence in Afghanistan.