United States The United Kingdom is considering extending the deadline for the evacuation of its troops and officials in Afghanistan. The G7 leaders will meet next Tuesday to agree on a joint response to the Taliban and decide whether the evacuations will end by 31 August.
The Taliban, for their part, have launched a threat to the area affected by the storm. Suhail Shaheen's spokesman has stated that the date set is a "red line" and has warned that if foreign governments fail to meet that deadline to leave Afghanistan, there will be "consequences". If next Tuesday the international forces remain in the area, “it means that an extension of the occupation is being made when it is not needed.” On the other hand, he told the AFP agency that the formation of the new government will only be announced when all American soldiers leave the country.
Meanwhile, foreign troops are accelerating the evacuations of Afghan officials and residents who want to flee the country. They fear that the Taliban will not close the doors of Kabul airport, where regular flights have been deployed. However, Shaneen has appealed for calm to all those who want to leave the country: From day 31, if they present the necessary documentation, they will not be “obstacles” to the departure of commercial flights.
The Americans have even more than 10,000 soldiers available to the security forces to evacuate. For his part, national security adviser Jake Sullivan has explained that they expect to take 50,000 and 60,000 Afghans out in the coming days. Although officials will be able to be evacuated before 31 January, he warned that by then it will be more difficult to rescue Afghan citizens.
20 people have died at Kabul airport, according to NATO reports to Efe. There has been a shooting in the fire area in the early hours of Tuesday. The disturbances have occurred after a number of unidentified hostages, which according to CNN were snipers, fired at and started shooting at Afghan soldiers.
The Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, blamed the United States for the murders that occurred: “The US forces at Hamid Karzai Airport are responsible for killing civilians, as they have been invited.” For the time being, CNN has reported that there are 18,500 people concentrated inside the airport, while another 2,000 are awaiting entry.
Mujahid said yesterday in his Twitter account that only one province is out of the power of the Taliban: Panjxir. He said, however, that the Afghan Resistance Front is "besieged" on the spot and that he has been ordered to abandon weapons.