The Taliban is demanding all US troops be out of Afghanistan by Aug. 31, saying they will not extend the deadline for evacuations.
The group’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said during a press conference Tuesday they want all evacuations to stop at the end of the month despite thousands of Americans and Afghans still trying to flee.
He warned they would take over airport security in Kabul, which the US currently controls, after the deadline.
Mujahid said the crowds of desperate Afghans trying to get on evacuation flights at Kabul airport should return to their homes because the Taliban “guarantee their security.”
He also claimed there was no list of people they were targeting for helping the US during the war.
“We have forgotten everything in the past,” Mujahid said.
It comes as President Joe Biden weighed whether to extend the deadline to withdraw from the country amid the botched evacuations.
Biden, who is due to discuss the situation with G-7 leaders later on Tuesday, has repeatedly vowed not to leave anyone behind.
The Taliban’s tough stance comes a day after the group said the deadline set by the Biden administration was a “red line” and vowed there would be “consequences” if evacuations continued past that point.
It follows reports CIA Director William Burns held a secret meeting with the Taliban’s de facto leader, Abdul Ghani Baradar, in Afghanistan on Monday.
The Taliban’s spokesman did not deny that the meeting took place.
More than 17,000 US citizens and Afghans were evacuated from Kabul in 36 hours, White House officials said late Monday — but the deadly Taliban violence that has blocked many from entering the airport still remains.
Biden administration officials have repeatedly refused to say how many US citizens remain in Kabul.
Taliban demand all foreign forces out by Aug. 31 deadline
Source: Political Updates PH
