Kabul, Sep 21 (IANS): The Taliban-led government in Afghanistan has started the renovation and repairing of the Bagram airfield, a former US military base, to make the airport operational, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

"In line with instruction of the leadership of the Defence Ministry, an engineering team began the work for reconstruction, renovation and repairing of Bagram airport today (Wednesday) to reactivate it," Xinhua news agency reported.

The airport, 50 km north of the capital Kabul, served as the main military base of the US-led forces during their 20-year presence in Afghanistan till August 2021 when the Taliban retook control of the war-torn nation.

It was used for planning and coordinating military operations against the Taliban.

According to the Defence Ministry, the US troops had destroyed all facilities at the airport before evacuating on August 30 last year.

"The engineering team with its limited resources would do its best to repair and reactivate Bagram airport in the earliest possible time," the statement added.