Afghanistan: Taliban to allow evacuation of Americans and Afghans in danger after August 31

Taliban pledged to allow at-risk Americans and Afghans to leave Afghanistan after August 31, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Wednesday.

About 1,500 Americans have yet to be evacuated from Afghanistan according to estimates, said the chief of the American diplomacy at a press conference in Washington.

He added that the Taliban had pledged to allow departures after the departure of foreign troops.. “We aggressively contact them several times a day through multiple communication channels to determine if they still want to leave.Blinken told reporters.

Blinken informed reporters that at least 4,500 American citizens out of the 6,000 Americans who wanted to leave Afghanistan had already left the country.

In turn, he assured that officials have been in “direct contact” with 500 other Americans who want to leave and are reaching out to the 1,000 others.

“The Taliban have made public and private commitments to provide and enable safe passage for Americans, third country nationals and Afghans at risk as of August 31,” he said.

One of the Taliban spokespersons, Suhail Shahin, warned on Monday that there would be “consequences” whether the United States and other foreign countries have not completed the withdrawal and evacuations from Afghanistan by August 31, the deadline set by US President Joe Biden.

Besides, two sources from the extremist group confirmed to the agency Reuters that they would not extend the deadline for exiting the forces from Afghanistan, although they also clarified that no government or senior foreign official had contacted the Taliban to discuss the matter.

In an interview with Sky News, Shahin had clarified that August 31 was “a red line”: “Biden announced that on August 31, he would withdraw all his military forces,” Shahin advocated, who also noted that if the president extended the mandate, it meant “that there is an extension of the occupation when there is no need”.

“If the United States or the United Kingdom ask for more time to continue the evacuations, the answer is no. Or there will be consequences ”, had warned.

The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, had asked Biden to extend the deadline to leave Afghanistan, an expansion that sought to remove as many people as possible from the country.

Several people had already lost their lives in unclear circumstances outside the airport, where costly evacuation operations continue. Faced with these difficulties, Biden opened the door to stay in place beyond August 31.

“Talks are underway between us and the military about an extension. We hope we don’t have to prolong, but there will be discussions, I guess, on the state of the evacuation process.», He had assured.

(With information from AFP)

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