US eyes Bagram comeback for counterterror missions in talks with Taliban: WSJ

The United States is in discussions with the Taliban about re-establishing a small US military presence at Afghanistan's Bagram air base as a launch point for counterterrorism operations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people with knowledge of the negotiations.

The Journal, citing a US official, also reported that the talks, headed by Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler, include a potential prisoner exchange, a possible economic deal, and a security component. 

Washington seeks to regain control of Bagram air base in Afghanistan, President Donald Trump said on Thursday during a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, but an Afghan official dismissed the need for any US presence.

The historic Soviet-built airstrip was the main base for American forces in the mountainous South Asian nation following the attacks of September 11, 2001, until their 2021 withdrawal led to a takeover by the Islamist Taliban movement.

"We're trying to get it back," Trump said of Bagram, citing what he called its strategic location near China. "We want that base back."

Kabul said it was not open to any such deal, however.

"Afghanistan and the United States need to engage with one another ... without the United States maintaining any military presence in any part of Afghanistan," Zakir Jalal, an Afghan foreign ministry official, posted on X.

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.