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Retaking of Bagram base may result in second US invasion of Afghanistan — Reuters

Regaining control of the airbase may require the US to deploy more than 10,000 troops, what might end up looking like a re-invasion of the country, the news agency said

WASHINGTON, September 19. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump's plan to reoccupy control of Bagram Airbase could result in Washington's repeated invasion of Afghanistan, Reuters news agency reported citing former and current American officials.

According to them, regaining control of the airbase may require the US to deploy more than 10,000 troops and modern air defense systems. Ultimately, "it might end up looking like a re-invasion of the country," says Reuters. Agency sources note that the US has "no active planning to militarily take over Bagram air base." According to them, even if the airbase were returned to US control, "it would require a huge undertaking to clear and hold the massive perimeter around it to avoid the area from being used to launch rocket attacks against American forces inside."

On Thursday, at a press conference with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer Trump said the American government was trying to regain control of the Bagram airbase. According to Trump, "it's an hour away from where China makes its nuclear weapons."

In 2001-2021, the Bagram airfield served as the largest base of the international coalition led by the United States in Afghanistan. On July 1, 2021, the Americans left the airbase, and on August 15 it came under the control of the radical Taliban movement.

On April 14, 2021, the then President of the United States Joe Biden announced the end of the operation in Afghanistan, which became the longest foreign military campaign in American history. At the peak of the war in 2010-2013, the number of military groups of Western allies exceeded 150,000 people. The withdrawal of American troops began in May 2021, while the main combat units of the United States and NATO left Afghanistan in 2014.

The Taliban launched a large-scale operation to establish control over Afghanistan after the United States said it would withdraw its forces. On August 15, 2021, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled abroad, and the Taliban entered Kabul without a fight. The last American military personnel left Afghanistan by early September 2021.

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