With the clock’s ticking for G7 online meeting scheduled under the UK’s initiative on August, reports come suggesting that UK PM Boris Johnson will be joined by France and Germany in the call on the US to extend the pullout deadline past August 31, CNN says.
The leaders of the US’s top foreign allies, French president Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, are planning to press President Biden to prolong the deadline for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan during the online meeting.
Their calls will some despite Taliban’s spokesman Muhammad Sohail Shahin’s statement underlining earlier that should they fail to withdraw from Afghanistan before September, the US and its allies will face the consequences.
Reuters wrote earlier that in light of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, President Biden will decide in the next 24 hours on the possible extending of the withdrawal timetable for the US’s troop from Afghanistan though he has not publicly committed to such a move.
According the advice from the military, such decision must be made on Tuesday to leave enough time to withdraw troops, equipment and weapons currently on the ground.
In addition to around 48,000 people- Americans, citizens of allied countries and Afghans who worked with the US troops- that have been evacuated from Afghanistan since Aug. 14, more that 6,000 troops deployed to help with the evacuation still need to be pulled from the country and that could take days according to defense officials.
Yet, some of Biden advisers are arguing against extending the deadline for security reasons while the White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan pointed that the US is in daily talks with the Taliban, continuing the negotiations.
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