Afghan government officials confirmed on Sunday that reaching an agreement with the United States regarding Bagram Air Base is "impossible," calling on Washington not to repeat the failure, following US President Donald Trump's threats to Kabul regarding the base.
Hamdullah Fitrat, the Afghan government's deputy spokesman, criticized the threats in a post on Twitter on Sunday, calling on Washington to avoid repeating its past "failures."
Fatrat affirmed that the Afghan government has emphasized in all bilateral discussions with the United States that Afghanistan's independence and territorial integrity are of paramount importance. He added, "We reiterate the need to adopt a realistic and rational policy instead of repeating the failed attempts of the past."
The Afghan official noted that the United States pledged, under the Doha Agreement it signed in 2020, not to threaten Afghanistan or exert pressure on its territorial integrity or political independence, calling on Washington to abide by this pledge.
For his part, Afghan Army Commander Fasihuddin Fitrat said, "Finally, some have said they have entered into negotiations with Afghanistan to reclaim Bagram Air Base," adding, "An agreement on even one inch of Afghan territory is impossible. We don't need it," according to statements reported by local media on Sunday.
Qatar mediated negotiations between Washington and the Taliban, which resulted in the signing of a historic agreement on February 29, 2020, for a gradual US withdrawal from Afghanistan and a prisoner exchange.
For his part, Zakir Jalali, an official at the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that Kabul and Washington need to interact with each other, adding that the two countries can establish economic and political relations based on mutual respect and shared interests, without the need for the United States to have a military presence in any part of Afghanistan.
On Saturday, Trump warned Afghanistan of "dire consequences" if its government did not hand over Bagram Air Base to the United States. This came a day after he announced that talks and negotiations were underway with Kabul to reclaim the base and re-establish a limited US military presence there.
Trump noted that one of the reasons the United States wanted to retake the airbase, located 50 kilometers north of the capital, Kabul, was that "it's only an hour away from where China manufactures its missiles and nuclear weapons."
The large base was established during the Cold War, and was built by the United States for its Afghan ally to help it protect itself from the Soviet Union to the north.
Bagram was formerly the largest US military base in Afghanistan and was handed over to the Afghan army shortly before the Taliban seized power in the country.
After US forces evacuated the base in early July 2021, Afghan government forces stationed at Bagram Air Base surrendered to Taliban forces on August 15 of the same year.
It's worth noting that the US military intervention in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, and continued for 20 years, before Washington withdrew its last forces from the country on August 31, 2021, leaving behind hundreds of American citizens, thousands of Afghans who worked with them, and millions of dollars' worth of equipment and weapons.
