The Taliban has said they will not accept President Joe Biden’s possible extension of withdrawing troops in Afghanistan as evacuation efforts continue.
After initially withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan, the Taliban quickly took over Kabul and troops were sent back in to evacuate Americans and our allies from the airport. Now, as the withdrawal deadline of August 31 approaches, Biden is considering an extension if more people need to be evacuated.
In an interview with Sky News, Taliban spokesperson Dr. Suhail Shaheen was asked if the Taliban would agree to an extension from the U.S. or UK. Shaheen stated, “This is something, you can say it’s a red line”.
President Biden announced that on 31 of August they would withdraw all their military forces. So if they extend it, that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that.
dr. suhail shaheen
Shaheen also explained that he believes an extension will create mistrust between the countries and added, ‘If they are content on continuing the occupation, so it would provoke a reaction”.
Other Taliban officials noted that foreign forces haven’t requested any extension, and if they did, it would not be approved.
In an update from the White House, approximately 10,400 people have been evacuated from Kabul on 28 military flights between August 22 at 3:00 am to August 23 at 3:00 am. 61 coalition aircraft also evacuated around 5,900 people, bringing the total amount of people evacuated since mid-August to approximately 37,000.
The U.S. is unsure of how many Americans have been evacuated or how many are in Afghanistan. Some reports have claimed the Taliban is beating American citizens who try to reach the airport for evacuation.