Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities claimed on March 1, 2026, that they thwarted an attempted Pakistani airstrike on Bagram Air Base, the former US hub north of Kabul, as fighting between the two neighbors entered a fourth day.
According to a statement cited by The Associated Press, officials in Parwan province said multiple Pakistani military jets entered Afghan airspace around 5:00 local time and “attempted to bomb” Bagram, but were forced to turn back after Taliban forces responded with anti-aircraft and missile defense systems. Pakistan had not issued an immediate response.
Local Afghan outlet Amu TV reported a different timeline, citing sources who said three Pakistani aircraft struck the airfield late on the night of February 28, 2026, with several explosions heard in the area and no immediate information on damage or casualties. The same report said Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed Pakistani aircraft were seen over Kabul, and that Taliban forces fired what he described as defensive shots.
Located 70 kilometers north of Kabul, Bagram was Afghanistan’s largest military airfield. Built with Soviet support in the 1950s and massively expanded after 2001, it had two long runways, hardened shelters, vast fuel and logistics facilities, and housing for tens of thousands of personnel. US forces vacated Bagram overnight in July 2021.
Bagram has resurfaced in the US political debate, with President Donald Trump’s administration eying a return to Bagram as a potential counterterrorism hub and as a strategic node given Afghanistan’s proximity to China.