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Taliban rejects Trump’s claims about Chinese presence at Bagram Airfield
Trump has claimed that Bagram, once the largest US airbase in Afghanistan, is controlled by China
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In an interview with Afghanistan’s state-run television RTA, released on Sunday, the Taliban government’s chief spokesman responded to recent claims by US President Donald Trump regarding a Chinese presence at Bagram Airfield.
Zabihullah Mujahid dismissed Trump’s remarks as “emotional” and attributed them to “a lack of information”.
Trump had claimed that Bagram, the largest US airbase during the US invasion of Afghanistan, was controlled by China and demanded the Taliban return US-made military equipment.
Mujahid insisted no Chinese forces were present in Afghanistan and that the Taliban government has no agreements with any country on the matter. He said that Bagram remained under Taliban control.
On the issue of US-made equipment left in Afghanistan, Mujahid stated that these weapons belonged to the previous Afghan government and were considered “spoils of war”. He said the Taliban would use them to protect Afghanistan and said they could be deployed if the country was threatened.
The spokesman also argued that the US militarily occupied Afghanistan for 20 years, and if accountability was to be considered, the Taliban expected reparations for the destruction caused by two decades of war.
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