Taliban refuses Trump's demand to return Bagram air base

Chief of staff of the Afghan Armed Forces Fasihuddin Fitrat rejected the US president's demand Donald Trump to return the Bagram air base to US control. The words of a senior official of the Taliban terrorist group reports Bloomberg.

"Afghanistan is fully independent, governed by its own people, and not dependent on any foreign power. We do not fear any bully or aggressor," Fitrat said.

He also noted that any hostile actions would provoke the "strongest" reaction.

Earlier, Trump spoke with a threat to Kabul: "If Afghanistan does not return the Bagram air base to those who built it, that is, the United States, bad things will happen."

The current US president has long criticized his predecessor Joe Biden for the manner in which the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan was conducted, claiming that the move left weapons and other military assets in the hands of the Taliban, including the Bagram base.

This facility, once the largest US military base in Afghanistan, has been under the control of the Taliban group since they regained power and withdrew U.S. troops from the country.

The Taliban are currently using Bagram to display captured military equipment, including US-supplied vehicles and weapons left behind after the withdrawal of troops. The base has become a symbol of the group's victory and is regularly displayed during official visits and military parades, Bloomberg notes.

• On September 20, Trump also threatened the leadership of Venezuela consequences if it refuses to accept prisoners and psychiatric patients who were allegedly forcibly transferred to the United States.