Bagram Air Base Photo: VCG

Afghanistan government on Sunday rejected US President Donald Trump's bid to retake Bagram Air Base, four years after America's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan left the sprawling military facility in the Taliban's hands, according to AP News.

The Taliban said on Sunday that "Afghanistan's independence and territorial integrity are of the utmost importance" and called on the US to uphold prior agreements that it would not resort to force, Al Jazeera reported.

The response came after Trump on Saturday renewed his call to reestablish a US presence at Bagram, even saying "we're talking now to Afghanistan" about the matter, per AP News. He did not offer further details about the purported conversations. Asked by a reporter if he'd consider deploying US troops to take the base, Trump demurred, the report said.

"We won't talk about that," Trump said, according to the report by AP. "We want it back, and we want it back right away. If they don't do it, you're going to find out what I'm going to do."

Chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected Trump's assertions and urged the US to adopt a policy of "realism and rationality," the report by AP noted.

According to Al Jazeera, Bagram, which was the US's largest military site in Afghanistan, is a large airbase located 50km (31 miles) north of Kabul that served as one of the US's key military hubs during its two-decade war against the Taliban. The war, which followed the September 11, 2001, attacks in New York and Washington by al-Qaeda, ended in 2021 with Washington's abrupt and chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Trump first announced that he was working to take the base back during a state visit to the UK in a press conference alongside the UK's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the report said. The Afghan government has quickly responded to Trump's claim, rejecting the idea of a renewed presence for the US military in the country, while left the door open for "political and economic relations," The New York Times reported on Friday. 

Trump also claimed that "We're trying to get it back because they need things from us. We want that base back. But one of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it's an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons."

On Friday, when asked to comment on the claims by Trump, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that China respects Afghanistan's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Afghanistan's future should rest in the hands of the Afghan people. 

"Let me stress that stirring up tension and confrontation in the region will not be supported. We hope all parties will play a constructive role for regional peace and stability," the spokesperson added.

A Chinese expert told the Global Times that Trump's desire for the US military to return to Bagram Air Base is likely driven by the base's significant strategic importance.

The expert noted that after 9/11 attacks, the US established military bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan for counterterrorism. During the war in Afghanistan, the US leveraged Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan, threatening Russia's strategic interests and influencing Central Asia. 

However, following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and the closure of bases in Uzbekistan in 2005 and Kyrgyzstan in 2014, the US lost its regional presence. Attempts to establish new bases in neighboring countries of Afghanistan have failed, with Russia firmly opposing such moves.

After losing its Central Asian and Afghan base networks, the US military not only lost direct means to influence the region but also saw its Middle East strategy significantly weakened. As Afghanistan borders Iran, the US previously used Bagram Air Base, alongside its Middle East base network, to create an "east-west pincer" against Iran. US reconnaissance aircraft and drones frequently took off from Afghan bases to closely monitor Iran's military installations, nuclear facilities, and key industrial sites, the expert noted.

With the loss of US military bases in Afghanistan and Gulf states' widespread opposition to using their bases for attacks on Iran, the US "Midnight Hammer" air strike operation against Iran must rely on strategic bombers launched from the US homeland, significantly increasing mission difficulty and risk. 

The expert noted that, with no usable military bases near Afghanistan and the nearest Middle East base network over 1,000 kilometers away, retaking Bagram Air Base through large-scale military action is highly challenging. Moreover, reclaiming Bagram by force would mean US troops stationed there would face continuous attacks from the Taliban.

A US 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 US enclave in a landlocked country, according to Reuters. 

Even after the US military took control of the base, it would require a huge undertaking to clear and hold the massive perimeter around it to avoid the area from being used to launch rocket attacks against American forces inside, per Reuters.