Taliban’s threat, concerns about eviction of loved ones:
The date of August 31, fixed for complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, has become a noose for America. Joe Biden is under pressure to extend the date, but the Taliban has made it clear that no change in the deadline will be tolerated. Western countries are still struggling to repatriate their citizens from Afghanistan. Kabul airport is overcrowded and the facilities are not suitable to handle such a large number of people. The airport is currently under the control of Western forces, but panic among people eager to leave the country has escalated into stampedes and firing several times. Due to this, about 20 people have lost their lives.
The US announced that its 20-year-long campaign would end on August 31 and all its troops would leave Afghanistan. US President Joe Biden announced this date in April. But the work of evacuating all the people has not been completed yet, due to this many countries want the US to extend its deadline from August 31. Joe Biden also said last week that American troops can stay longer if needed. But in the meantime, the Taliban has made it clear that any change in the date will not be tolerated and if it happens, America will have to face the consequences. Will be Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told US news channel Sky News that if the US and Britain wanted additional time to evacuate people, the answer was no. If this does not happen, then there will be consequences. Later in a conversation with the BBC, Shaheen said that any Afghan with proper documents can leave the country by commercial flights. Shaheen said, ‘The reason is not very weighty that there are many Afghans who used to work with foreign forces and they have not been able to be evacuated. Staying here after August 31 would be in violation of the Doha Agreement.
America’s stand
US President Joe Biden has expressed the hope that there will be no need to extend the date. On Sunday, he said that talks are going on in this regard. After the Taliban took control of Kabul, America evacuated 37 thousand people from there. Pentagon chief spokesman John Kirby said the US was looking to complete the evacuation by the end of this month. He said that our entire focus is to evacuate as many people as possible by the end of this month, and if there is a need for talks on extending the deadline, then we will do this at the right time.
Biden’s security adviser Jake Sullivan has said that the US is already in talks with the Taliban about this. He said that we are talking to the Taliban daily through our political and defense officials, but in the end the decision to extend the deadline will be of President Biden.
What does Europe want?
Britain believes that the deadline should be extended. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to request the US to extend the deadline at the G-7 meeting on Tuesday. But Britain’s military minister, James Heapy, told Sky News that the talks were not between the G-7 leaders but with the Taliban.
France has also expressed concern about the approaching deadline and has stated the need for more time to evacuate people. German Foreign Minister Haikou Maas has said that he is in talks with both NATO and the Taliban to allow Kabul airport to function beyond the deadline.
