An Afghan Taliban government official said on Sunday that a deal over Bagram air base was “not possible”, after US President Donald Trump said he wanted the former US base back.

Trump threatened the country on Saturday with unspecified punishment, just days after he raised the idea of the United States retaking control of the base while on a state visit to the United Kingdom.

“If Afghanistan doesn’t give Bagram Airbase back to those that built it, the United States of America, BAD THINGS ARE GOING TO HAPPEN!!!” the 79-year-old leader wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Trump, who has previously said he wants the United States to acquire territories and sites ranging from the Panama Canal to Greenland, has appeared focused on Bagram for years.

Asked on Saturday whether he would send in US troops to retake the base, Trump declined to give a direct answer, saying: “We won’t talk about that.”

“We’re talking now to Afghanistan and we want it back and we want it back soon, right away. And if they don’t do it — if they don’t do it, you’re going to find out what I’m gonna do,” he told reporters at the White House.

On Sunday, Fasihuddin Fitrat, chief of staff of the Ministry of Defence, said “some people” want to take back the base through a “political deal”.

“Recently, some people have said that they have entered negotiations with Afghanistan for taking back Bagram air base,” he said in comments broadcast by local media.

“A deal over even an inch of Afghanistan’s soil is not possible. We don’t need it.”

Separately, the Afghan Taliban also issued an statement, saying: “In accordance with Islamic principles and grounded in its balanced, economy-oriented foreign policy, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan seeks constructive relations with all states on the basis of mutual and shared interests.”

The statement said it had been “consistently communicated to the United States in all bilateral negotiations that, for the Islamic Emirate, Afghanistan’s independence and territorial integrity are of the utmost importance”.

It added: “ It should be recalled that, under the Doha Agreement, the United States pledged that ‘it will not use or threaten force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan, nor interfere in its internal affairs.’ Therefore, it is necessary that they remain faithful to their commitments.

“Accordingly, it is once again underscored that, rather than repeating past failed approaches, a policy of realism and rationality should be adopted. Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”

‘Re-occupying Bagram might end up looking like re-invasion’

Bagram, the largest air base in Afghanistan, was a linchpin of the US-led war effort against the Taliban, whose government Washington toppled following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

US and Nato troops chaotically pulled out of Bagram in July 2021 as part of a Trump-brokered deal with the Taliban.

The loss of crucial air power saw the Afghan military collapse just weeks later and the Taliban sweep back to power.

Current and former US officials privately caution that re-occupying Bagram air base in Afghanistan might end up looking like a re-invasion of the country, requiring more than 10,000 troops as well as deployment of advanced air defences.

Experts say the sprawling air base would be difficult to secure initially and would require massive manpower to operate and protect.

Even if the Taliban accepted the US re-occupation of Bagram following negotiations, it would need to be defended from a host of threats including the terrorist Islamic State and Al Qaeda militants inside Afghanistan.

It could also be vulnerable to an advanced missile threat from Iran, which attacked a major US air base in Qatar in June after the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites.