US seeks control over Bagram air base after withdrawal from Afghanistan

The United States is trying to regain control of the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump said Thursday at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The historic airfield, built by the Soviet Union, was the most important base for US troops in Afghanistan after the attacks of September 11, 2001, until the withdrawal in 2021, when the Islamist Taliban movement took control.

“We are trying to get it back,” Trump said of Bagram, referring to its strategic location near China. “We want that base back.”

(reuters, est)