US In Talks With Taliban To Return Forces To Bagram, WSJ Reports

2025-09-19 03:19:13

(MENAFN- Live Mint) (Bloomberg) -- The US is in talks with the Afghan government about returning military forces to Bagram air base, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, a day after President Donald Trump said he was seeking to regain control of the facility.

The discussions with Afghanistan's Taliban government involve potentially placing a small military force there that could spearhead counter-terrorism operations, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the talks. That presence could include manned aircraft or drones, according to the report, which cited a US official who characterized the talks as still in an early phase.

“We're trying to get it back, by the way,” Trump told reporters Thursday during a press conference in the UK where he met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump indicated he believed the US had leverage to see the base returned.

Trump has long assailed his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, over the chaotic US exit from Afghanistan in 2021 that left the military facility in the hands of the Taliban government. Trump has said the facility still holds strategic value for the US.

“One of the reasons we want the base is, as you know, it's an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons. So a lot of things are happening, but I am very disappointed in the fact that that one's not settled,” Trump said Thursday.

Friday's Journal report cited the talks over the base as part of broader discussions with the Afghan government on normalizing relations.

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