CIA director met Taliban leader in Kabul, US media reports
The leader of the Taliban negotiating team, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, attends the final declaration of the peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban presented in Qatar’s capital Doha, July 18, 2021. (AFP Photo)
CIA Director William Burns met with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The U.S. military pulled off its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan by far on Monday, but deadly violence that has blocked many desperate evacuees from entering Kabul Hamid Karzai International Airport persisted. The Taliban signaled they might soon seek to shut down the airlifts as the G-7 leaders were due to meet on Tuesday at an emergency summit over the deadline to complete evacuations from the country by Aug. 31.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said at the White House that talks with the Taliban are continuing as the administration looks for additional ways to safely move more Americans and others into the Kabul airport.
“We are in talks with the Taliban on a daily basis through both political and security channels,” he said, adding that ultimately it will be Biden’s decision alone whether to continue military-led evacuation operations beyond Aug. 31. That’s the date Biden had set for completing the withdrawal of troops.
Source:dailysabah.com