3 yıl önce

CIA head meets Taliban leader as group refuses to delay evacuation deadline

The clandestine meeting came ahead of a G7 virtual summit in which leaders will likely seek more time to evacuate foreigners and Afghans from Kabul.

AFP

File photo: CIA Director William Burns testifies during a House Intelligence Committee hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington on April 15, 2021

The director of America's spy agency has met with Taliban’s top political leader in Kabul, as the G7 group of wealthy nations seeks extension of a August 31 deadline set to complete evacuations from Afghanistan.

While details of CIA Director William Burns’ discussion with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar on Monday were not released.

The Washington Post first reported Burns’ meeting with Baradar.

A US official confirmed the report on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly.

'No extension'

The Post said the meeting likely revolved around any delay in the deadline for the US to finish evacuations at the airport of the Afghan capital, where thousands of Afghans are still massed with the hope of fleeing the country.

However, on Tuesday Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said again that his group would accept “no extensions” to the August 31 deadline.

Leaders of the Group of Seven nations plan to meet later in the day to discuss the airlift and the broader crisis.

US President Joe Biden's administration faces criticism for agreeing to the deadline with Taliban despite mismanagement and chaos at Kabul airport that has delayed evacuations.

UK, France and Germany want more time to evacuate their own citizens and those Afghans who worked at their embassies or collaborated with their forces.

The CIA partnered with Pakistani forces to arrest Baradar in 2010, and he spent eight years in a Pakistani prison before the Trump administration persuaded Pakistan to release him in 2018 ahead of peace talks.