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Are US troops returning to Afghanistan? Donald Trump gives ‘breaking news’
However, even after Trump's remarks, there is not clarity what the US is actually doing to get the Bagram air base back.
United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that the US is trying to take back the control of the Bagam air base in Afghanistan, suggesting that the US troops could return to the south Asian nation after around four years of withdrawing from there after the Taliban takeover.
The United States had given up control of the air base after its troops had withdrawn from there.
"We're trying to get it back, by the way, that could be a little breaking news. We're trying to get it back because they need things from us," the US President said while addressing a press conference with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump said that the US wants to take the control of the airbase back due to its proximity to their rival China.
“We want that base back…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 said.
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However, even after Trump's remarks, there is not clarity what the US is actually doing to get the base back.
Trump also said that the US gave the airbase to Taliban ‘for nothing’ under the presidency of Joe Biden, which he said should not have happened.
The terms for the US withdrawal from Afghanistan were set under Trump's first term, however, it happened under the leadership of Joe Biden.
‘Can land a planet on Bagram air base’
Trump said that even though they had planned to leave Afgnistan, they were going to keep the Bagram air base, which he said is “one of the biggest air bases in the world” on which, even a “planet” could be landed.
“They just went through the Afghanistan total disaster for no reason whatsoever. We were going to leave Afghanistan, but we were going to leave it with strength and dignity. We were going to keep Bagram Air Base — one of the biggest air bases in the world. We gave it to them for nothing,” Trump said.
"“It’s one of the most powerful bases in the world in terms of runway strength and length…You can land anything on there. You can land a planet on top of it,” Trump said later aboard Air Force One.
(With inputs from wires)
