Khaama: Local sources report a clash between Taliban fighters and Pakistani border guards at the Torkham crossing. The incident occurred on Monday, March 3, at around midnight. The conflict erupted after the Taliban attempted to establish a security post on the other side of the Durand Line. This move prompted a response from Pakistani forces stationed at the border. Click here to read more (external link).
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Zabihullah Mujahid
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
March 2, 2025
Islamabad — Taliban officials have denied President Donald Trump’s recent assertions that China holds control over a crucial former U.S.-operated military base in Afghanistan.
The sprawling Bagram Air Base in question, situated about 44 kilometers north of the national capital of Kabul, served as the central command for the 20-year U.S.-led military campaign in the country until all U.S. and NATO troops withdrew in August 2021 and Taliban insurgents reclaimed power.
“They should refrain from making emotional statements based on unsubstantiated information,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told their official broadcaster when asked for a response to Trump’s claims that China currently controls the air base.
“Bagram is controlled by the Islamic Emirate [Taliban regime], not China. Chinese troops are not present here, nor do we have any such pact with any country,” Mujahid said in the interview broadcast on Saturday night. “We request that Trump’s team [of advisors] explain to him and correct his information about Afghanistan.”
Trump negotiated the troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban insurgency in February 2020 during his previous term in office, but it was executed under President Joe Biden.
Trump claimed during his election campaign speeches that Bagram was under the control of China’s People’s Liberation Army, and he reiterated it before his first Cabinet meeting last Wednesday, saying Biden should have kept control of the former U.S. base.
Beijing has increased cooperation with Taliban-run Afghanistan since the U.S. troop exit but vehemently denied any military presence in the country.
“We were going to get out, but we were going to keep Bagram, not because of Afghanistan but because of China, because it’s exactly one hour away from where China makes its nuclear missiles,” Trump stated in his Wednesday remarks. “And you know who’s occupying it right now? China. Biden gave it up,” he said.
The U.S. president criticized the previous administration for what he described as the “badly handled” military withdrawal, saying the departing troops left behind billions of dollars’ worth of equipment.
Trump stated that the Taliban were selling U.S.-made gear, making Afghanistan “one of the biggest” sellers of military equipment in the world.
“Can you believe it? They’re selling 777,000 rifles, 70,000 armor-plated …trucks and vehicles — 70,000 … This is 70,000 vehicles we had there, and we left it for them. I think we should get it back,” the president said.
Trump pledged to reclaim U.S. military equipment from the Taliban if Washington were to allocate “billions of dollars” in humanitarian aid to Afghanistan.
“And if we’re doing that, I think they should give our equipment back. And I told Pete to study that,” the president said, pointing to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth sitting beside him.
Mujahid responded to Trump’s claims on Saturday, stating that the military equipment had been provided to the U.S.-backed former government in Kabul and now belongs to the Taliban as “spoils of war.”
Mujahid added that the Taliban use the weapons to defend Afghanistan and will be utilized to counter any intervention aimed at taking them back. Mujahid stated that if the United States insists on reclaiming military equipment, Kabul will rightfully expect substantial war reparations for the consequences Afghans have endured over the past two decades of conflict.
A U.S. Department of Defense report found that Washington provided $18.6 billion of equipment to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces from 2005 to 2021. About $7 billion worth of hardware remained in Afghanistan during the troop exit, including aircraft, air-to-ground munitions, military vehicles, weapons, communications equipment, and other materials.
John Sopko, the former U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, dismissed the idea of retrieving American military equipment as “pointless.”
He spoke at a security dialogue regarding the ongoing Afghan political and social crisis, stating that a significant amount of U.S. weaponry had been provided to former Afghan national defense forces, but much of it has either been destroyed or is now in disrepair.
“The cost of retrieving this equipment would exceed its actual value,” Sopko told the two-day event, organized by the independent Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies in Spain.
Afghanistan International: On Saturday, Whitney Wright, an American adult film star, shared new photos from her visit to various Afghan cities. In one image, she is seen holding an AK-47 rifle, suggesting that she is travelling under Taliban security. Under Taliban-imposed restrictions, Afghan women are not permitted to travel more than 72 kilometres alone without a male guardian. The group has also barred women from entering parks, restaurants, and gyms. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: The women describe methods of torture including hanging by the feet, placing plastic bags over their heads and faces, binding their hands behind their backs, keeping them in damp rooms, whipping with belts, placing the barrel of a Kalashnikov near their ears, and threatening them with death. Click here to read more (external link).
Amu: Afghan bodybuilder Ali Bilal clinched the Physique title at the 2025 Arnold Classic, securing a major victory on the global bodybuilding stage. Bilal’s latest achievement comes after he finished as the runner-up at the 2024 Mr. Olympia, one of bodybuilding’s most renowned events. Click here to read more (external link).
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Afghanistan International: The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) has announced a temporary suspension of military operations against the Taliban until the end of Ramadan. In an official statement, the group declared that it will refrain from conducting military actions as long as its forces are not attacked and its bases and positions remain free from direct threats. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan International: Local sources in Takhar province report that Abdul Nasir, a resident of Farkhar district, has died as a result of torture by the Taliban’s intelligence forces. This is not the first case of a detainee dying in Taliban custody. Over the past three years, numerous reports have surfaced of individuals dying due to torture in Taliban prisons. Click here to read more (external link).
Michael Hughes: Trump 2.0 and Taliban 2.0 were likely destined to clash, but who knew the unlikely bedfellows would kill their marriage within weeks of the Dealmaker-In-Chief reentering the Oval Office. We knew Trump would go after the $7 billion in military aid the U.S. left behind in Afghanistan, but less foreseeable was the radical movement daring to metaphorically tear up the Doha deal so soon and so publicly.
In a TV interview on February 28, chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid declared that the Taliban government would no longer abide by the Doha agreement – a deal struck with the Trump 1.0 administration which led to the complete withdrawal of all foreign forces. The Taliban announcement came roughly five years from the day the agreement was signed.