Taliban leader calls emergency meeting after Trump's warning

The Taliban’s Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, has convened an emergency meeting with ministers and senior officials to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands regarding Bagram Airbase.

Sources told Al Arabiya that several senior Taliban figures have visited Kandahar in recent days to prepare for the meeting, which is expected to take place soon. This move followed Trump’s warning that “bad things” would happen if Afghanistan does not agree to hand over the key military facility to the United States.

Taliban sources said that Akhundzada has already held a series of private meetings with senior officials, including Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid, Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, and intelligence chiefs. These discussions confirmed the Taliban’s refusal to accept any demands for the return of foreign troops to Afghanistan.

Al Arabiya sources added that the Taliban’s statement issued last Sunday, rejecting Trump’s request, was based on the outcomes of those meetings in Kandahar. In the statement, the group emphasized that “the independence and sovereignty of Afghanistan are the highest priority” and reminded Washington of its commitment under the Doha Agreement not to use force or threats against Afghanistan.

Bagram, located north of Kabul, was the largest US military installation in Afghanistan and the hub of its two-decade war against the Taliban. US forces abandoned it in July 2021, weeks before the Taliban’s return to power.

By Khagan Isayev