Former U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly seeking to regain control of Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Trump presented a proposal to the Taliban government recently, which was rejected. The Taliban seized control of Kabul in 2021 after ousting U.S. forces following a two-decade war.
Trump now aims to redeploy U.S. troops in Afghanistan. He presented this proposal to China and the Taliban government, which involved taking control of Bagram Air Base. The Taliban rejected Trump’s proposal, and China also strongly condemned it.
Bagram Air Base is a significant military airfield situated in the Parwan province of Afghanistan, approximately 40-60 km north of Kabul. It is one of the largest and most strategically important airbases globally.
Bagram Air Base was constructed by the Soviet Union in the 1950s. During the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s, it served as the main center for Soviet forces. After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, American forces took control of Afghanistan, including the airbase.
Throughout the 20-year war in Afghanistan, the airbase was the central hub for U.S. forces. It hosted over 30,000 American soldiers and served as the headquarters for NATO forces.
Bagram Air Base has two concrete runways, each 11,000 feet long, capable of handling large cargo aircraft like the C-5 Galaxy and B-52 bombers. It included over 110 aircraft shelters, fuel depots, hospitals, a prison, and an intelligence center.
Strategically and geographically, Bagram is positioned between South Asia, Central Asia, and West Asia, near the borders of Iran, Pakistan, China’s Xinjiang province, and Russia. Xinjiang, where China’s nuclear weapons production facilities are located, is just an hour’s flight away (approximately 500 miles) from the base.
This base could prove vital for the U.S. in countering China’s influence, as it enables monitoring of both China and Iran. The U.S. could use it for counter-terrorism operations, drone operations, air strikes, and intelligence gathering. Experts suggest it also serves as a gateway for maintaining American influence in Central Asia.
Since the American withdrawal in 2021, the Taliban has controlled the base. There have been claims of increased Chinese presence, but these have not been confirmed.
