To regain control over Bagram Air Base, USA may have to invade Afghanistan once again
In 2001-2021, the Bagram Air Base served as the largest base of the US-led international coalition in Afghanistan.
The US government is making efforts to regain control over the Bagram Air Base in
Afghanistan, US President Donald Trump said during a joint news conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
“We are going to keep Bagram, one of the biggest airbases in the world. We gave it for nothing. We are trying to get it back by the way. OK, that could be a little breaking news,” he said.
“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,” Trump added.
In 2001-2021, the Bagram Air Base served as the largest base of the US-led international coalition in Afghanistan. On July 1, 2021, US forces left it, and on August 15 it fell under control of the Taliban radical movement.
On April 14, 2021, then-US President Joe Biden announced a decision to end the country’s military operation in Afghanistan, the longest foreign military campaign in the history of the United States. The US launched the operation in October 2001.
At its peak – from 2010 to 2013 – the number of Western forces in Afghanistan surpassed 150,000. The withdrawal of US troops began in May 2021. The main combat forces of NATO and the US left Afghanistan in 2014.
After the US announced that it was withdrawing from the country, the Taliban movement embarked on a large-scale operation to take control of Afghanistan.
On August 15, 2021, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and fled the country, while Taliban fighters swept into Kabul without encountering any resistance.
This plan to reoccupy control of Bagram Airbase could result in Washington’s repeated invasion of Afghanistan, Reuters news agency reported citing former and current American officials.
According to them, regaining control of the airbase may require the US to deploy more than 10,000 troops and modern air defense systems. Ultimately, “it might end up looking like a re-invasion of the country,” says Reuters.
Agency sources note that the US has “no active planning to militarily take over Bagram air base.”
According to them, even if the airbase were returned to US control, “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.”
