Donald Trump claims China is ‘going to take over’ Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base

Former US President Donald Trump recently claimed that China is set to take over Bagram Air Base in Kabul in the aftermath of America’s “surrender” of Afghanistan to the Taliban. It is to mention that China’s ambassador to Afghanistan has already dismissed the reports concerning a Chinese military presence at the sprawling facility north of Kabul, which once housed tens of thousands of US and NATO troops. Separately, the Taliban government has also denied the presence of foreign troops at the Airfield in the war-ravaged nation. 

However, while speaking to Fox News, Trump repeated those claims and also slammed the Biden administration’s “surrender” of Afghanistan. In a televised interview, Trump said that if he was the President of the United States, he would have held onto Bagram and the Parwan detention facility. He said that while he planned to eventually withdraw from Afghanistan, he would have still maintained a hold over Bagram, which is next to China, and the Parwan Detention Facility, which is a military prison at the airbase. 

Trump said, “We would have kept Bagram because it is next to China. And it is one hour away from their nuclear facility, and we gave that up too.”

He added, "And now China’s going to take over Bagram, in my opinion."

During the same interview, the former US President also blasted the Biden administration for pulling the military out first amid reports of hundreds of American citizens remaining in the war-ravaged country under the Taliban rule. Trump also went on to say that he holds the generals responsible because they should have never allowed that to happen. "They must have been able to talk [Biden] into reason," Trump said. "But you have to hold them responsible also for allowing that to happen."

Bagram airbase remains largely inactive 

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to mention that since the United States left the war-torn country in August and the Taliban took charge, the Bagram Air Base remains essentially inert. The insurgent group that took power in Afghanistan on August 15 is believed to lack the qualified staff needed to fix and operate the few remaining planes at the facility, according to Sputnik. In September, Chinese ambassador Wang Yu also met the Taliban's interim Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and vowed to continue assisting and cooperating with Afghanistan without any conditions. According to TOLO News, China has offered $15 million in humanitarian relief and three million doses of COVID vaccines to Afghanistan. 

(Image: AP)