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Trump’s dream of retaking Bagram might end up looking like an Afghan re-invasion – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump’s goal of re-occupying Bagram air base in Afghanistan might end up looking like a re-invasion of the country, requiring more than 10,000 troops as well as deployment of advanced air defenses, Reuters reported citing current and former U.S. officials.
Trump, speaking to reporters on Thursday during a trip to London, said “we want that base back” and cited what he called its strategic location near China.
“It’s an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons,” Trump said.
The sprawling airfield was the main base for American forces in Afghanistan during the two decades of war that followed the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington.
Trump, who has previously said he wants the United States to acquire territories and sites ranging from the Panama Canal to Greenland, has appeared focused on Bagram for years.
He hinted on Thursday that the U.S. could acquire the base with some kind of the Islamic Emirate consent but it was unclear what form such an agreement might take. The Islamic Emirate has previously said that it will not allow the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.
The base once counted fast-food restaurants like Burger King and Pizza Hut catering to U.S. troops as well as shops selling everything from electronics to Afghan rugs. It also hosted a massive prison complex.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no active planning to militarily take over Bagram air base, which the U.S. abandoned along with the rest of the country when it withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.
The official said any effort to reclaim the base would be a significant undertaking.
The official said it would require tens of thousands of troops to take and hold Bagram air base, an expensive effort to repair the base, and a logistical headache to resupply the base — which would be an isolated U.S. enclave in a landlocked country.
A former senior U.S. defense official played down the benefits of retaking the base, including the base’s proximity to China that was touted by Trump.
“I don’t think there’s a particular military advantage to being up there,” the former official said. “The risks sort of outweigh the advantages.”
In February, Trump complained that Biden had given up the base and said there had been a plan to keep a small U.S. force there, even though his February 2020 accord with the IEA required a pullout of all U.S.-led international forces.
Trump’s comments came as the Pentagon is carrying out a review into the United States’ chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, which many policy leaders in his administration viewed as a distraction from bigger challenges facing the United States — like competition from China.
Over the weekend, U.S. officials held talks with the authorities in Kabul over Americans held in Afghanistan.
Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s special hostage envoy, and Zalmay Khalilzad, a former U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan, met the IEA’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi.
Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani visited Panjshir province on Thursday and met with tribal elders and influential figures from various districts at the provincial governor’s office.
The Ministry of Interior said the participants raised their concerns, demands and suggestions with Haqqani during the meeting.
According to the ministry, Haqqani listened to their concerns and instructed relevant officials to take necessary steps to address the issues raised.
Iran executed an Afghan man on Thursday over charges related to January’s nationwide protests, local media reported.
The Hengaw Organization for Human Rights identified the person as Qaem Hosseini, a 20-year-old Afghan national.
Iran’s state media said he took part in events that led to the killing of security force members during the protests.
He was accused of taking part in events on January 8, 2026, at Alikhani Square in Isfahan, during which four Iranian security forces were killed.
Hosseini is the fifth defendant in the case to be executed. Four other defendants, including his cousin Gol Mohammad Mohammadi, had previously been executed.
More than 1,000 Afghans who were evacuated to a U.S. military facility in Qatar following the Islamic Emirate’s return to power in 2021 remain in limbo, with no clear path to the United States, NPR reports.
The Afghans have been staying at Camp As Sayliyah after being airlifted out of Afghanistan during the final days of the U.S. war. Some have been there for more than a year while waiting for a decision on their future.
The U.S. State Department told NPR that negotiations are continuing over where the Afghans could be resettled.
“A third country is a positive resolution that provides safety for these remaining people to start a new life outside Afghanistan while upholding the safety and security of the American people,” the U.S. State Department said in an email to NPR.
The situation at the camp has become more difficult amid the war in the Gulf. Sean Jamshidi, a former U.S. Marine, told NPR that missiles were launched during the conflict and debris fell near the camp, including fragments that entered the building where his family members were staying.
U.S. veterans and lawmakers have also called on Washington to protect Afghans who supported American forces. Republican Congressman Don Bacon, a retired brigadier general, said the United States has a “moral obligation” to people who served alongside its troops and that promises made to them should be kept.
There have also been reports that some of the Afghans could be sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Islamic Emirate has said that Afghanistan is the shared homeland of all Afghans, stressing that returnees can come back with “full confidence and peace of mind.”
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