Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers said on Tuesday they wanted all foreign withdrawals from the country to be completed by the August 31 deadline. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a news conference in the capital, “We guarantee the safety of those captured by Taliban fighters on August 15.”
In fact, the director of the US intelligence agency CIA had met Taliban leader Mullah Baradar but no agreement could be reached on extending the deadline to August 31. Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen has threatened that the US withdraws its forces by August 31 or it will have dire consequences. Meanwhile, America’s allies have warned against the withdrawal of the army.
British Defense Minister Ben Wallace told Sky News he doubted the deadline would be extended. But German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Germany was working with the US and Britain to ensure NATO allies could evacuate civilians after the deadline. Maas told Bild newspaper that the deadline is August 31 or if it is extended by a few days, we still won’t be able to fire everyone.
