US in talks with Taliban over return to Bagram base for counterterrorism operations: WSJ

The US is in talks with the Taliban about re-establishing a small American military presence at Afghanistan’s Bagram air base to support counterterrorism operations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing sources familiar with the negotiations.

According to the Journal, a US official confirmed that the discussions, led by Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler, may also involve a potential prisoner exchange, an economic agreement, and a security component.

President Donald Trump stated on Thursday, during a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, that Washington aims to regain control of Bagram air base in Afghanistan. However, Afghan officials have dismissed the need for any US military presence.

The historic Soviet-era airstrip served as the main base for American forces in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks, until the 2021 withdrawal, which allowed the Taliban to take control.

“We’re trying to get it back,” Trump said of Bagram, highlighting its strategic location near China. “We want that base back.”

Kabul, however, rejected the proposal. Zakir Jalal, an Afghan foreign ministry official, wrote on X that Afghanistan and the US must engage without any American military presence on Afghan soil.

The two nations could establish economic and political ties on the basis of mutual respect and shared interests, he added.

China respects Afghanistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, a spokesperson of its foreign ministry said, urging all parties to play a constructive role for regional peace and stability.

“The future and destiny of Afghanistan should be held in the hands of the Afghan people,” Lin Jian told a regular press conference on Friday, when asked about Trump’s comments.

“I want to stress that stoking tensions and creating confrontation in the region wins no popular support.”

Engaging with Kabul to free citizens wrongly detained abroad, US officials held talks on Saturday with Afghan authorities regarding Americans held in Afghanistan.

Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s special hostage envoy, and Zalmay Khalilzad, a former US special envoy for Afghanistan, met the Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi.

Washington does not recognise the Taliban administration, which seized power in 2021 after 20 years of US military intervention in Afghanistan.