Reports that Taliban ceded Bagram Air Base to US are unfounded

"The Taliban Hands Over Bagram Air Base to the United States," says an article headline posted on X on April 8, 2025.

The same claim circulated elsewhere on X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok and YouTube.

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Screenshot from X taken April 10, 2025

Bagram's air base, the largest of its kind in Afghanistan, served as a key strategic center for US and NATO military operations before they withdrew from the site in July 2021. 

The base has been controlled by the Taliban government for more than three years, during which it seized equipment US troops left behind during their departure.

US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in stationing a small contingent of American soldiers in Bagram to ward off Chinese influence in the region, telling reporters, "we were going to have Bagram Air Base, one of the biggest air bases in the world" in a February 2025 cabinet meeting (archived here).

Despite the US president's stated goals, the claims that troops have re-entered the base in April 2025 are unfounded.

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Taliban military vehicles parade to celebrate the third anniversary of Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, at the Bagram Air Base, in Bagram, Parwan province on August 14, 2024 (AFP / Ahmad SAHEL ARMAN)

Contacted by AFP, a US defense official said in an April 9 email that the reports of the United States taking over the base and flying a transport plane to the town are "not true" and that "there is no US military presence in Bagram."

Afghanistan's Khaama Press was among the first outlets to report that the Taliban planned to cede Bagram to the United States on April 7 after the US Central Intelligence Agency's Deputy Chief, Michael Ellis, supposedly flew to the facility in a C-17 military aircraft.

Khaama Press cited an article on the website Medium credited to Zark Shabab, which claims that the Taliban and US governments were in negotiations to cooperate on intelligence-gathering in the region, starting with the supposed Bagram handover.

Medium has since removed the article -- a copy of which was captured via the Internet Archive -- and Shabab's author page, saying the account is under investigation.

The United States does not recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan, and in February, Taliban leaders annulled the peace agreement with Washington that paved the way for the American withdrawal.

In an April 6 statement, chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the reports of US involvement in Bagram are "propaganda" and that the "Afghan people know it's impossible."

"Afghanistan is an independent country, and it has independent forces. There is no need for any other military presence, nor will it be allowed. Afghanistan is a country that has peace and security, there is no need for such a step," he said to government-owned broadcaster Radio Television Afghanistan (archived here).

CIA Director of Public Affairs Liz Lyons also denied the claims that Ellis has traveled to Bagram.

"Reports that CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis was at Bagram Air Base are false," she said in an April 11 statement.

AFP has debunked other claims about Afghanistan here.

Susannah Walden contributed reporting to this fact check.