Afghanistan: Fate of thousands hinges on talks between Taliban and global powers

Senior official says US in ‘daily talks’ with Taliban to reach agreement on evacuations

The fate of thousands of Afghans who are seeking refuge abroad following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan hinges on talks between the Islamist group and international powers that have started this week.

Germany’s foreign minister Heiko Maas stated that discussions had begun between the Taliban, the US, Germany and Turkey to extend the deadline set for American troops to withdraw from Afghanistan – which would effectively end airlift evacuations.

The Turkish government had recently offered to provide security for Kabul airport.

It came after a firefight at the airport between Afghan guards and unidentified gunmen, drawing in American and German soldiers, saw an Afghan person killed and four others injured.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed on Monday that the US was in “daily talks” with the Taliban through “political and security channels”.

When asked if US president Joe Biden would extend the deadline, Mr Sullivan said that he was “taking this day by day, and will make his determinations as we go … we believe there is enormous progress in Afghan evacuations.”

Mr Sullivan added that the US was “consulting with the Taliban” on every aspect of what is happening in Kabul and he confirmed that the US State Department was confident it could get every American out of the country by the 31 August deadline.

The Taliban has stated that it would firmly oppose foreign forces remaining beyond the withdrawal date previously announced by Mr Biden, warning that there would be “consequences” if that was to happen.

“If they are intent on continuing the occupation, it will provoke a reaction,” Taliban spokesperson Dr Suhail Shaheen said.

Boris Johnson and other European leaders are due to ask the US president at a virtual G7 emergency summit to consider continuing evacuations after 31 August, to cope with the thousands of people who have arrived at the airport and surrounding areas.

However, there is consternation among American officials about the deteriorating security situation with warnings from Washington about the possibility of an Isis attack.

UK officials have also said that the British ambassador to Afghanistan, who is currently carrying out his duties from a hotel near the airport, told MPs in a telephone call that the Taliban had been clear with wanting evacuations to end within days.

“The signalling that we’re seeing from the Taliban, including earlier today, is pretty uncompromising that they want the operation finished by the end of the month,” they said.

“So I think it follows from that, that if the US and its allies were to try to push beyond that, then there’s at least a risk there, of us doing so in a much more difficult and less compliant environment.”

With the decision on extending the deadline unclear, the US is deploying helicopters and Special Forces to Kabul city to extract stranded American citizens and “high value” allies.

The UK Special Forces have carried out similar missions in the last week.

Meanwhile, the US military reported its biggest day of evacuation flights out of Afghanistan on Monday, with 28 military flights carrying about 10,400 people to safety over the most recent 24-hour period.

John Kirby, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, said that the faster pace of evacuation was due in part to coordination with Taliban commanders on getting evacuees into the airport.