CIA boss holds secret meeting with Taliban leader Baradar as Boris Johnson joins France and Germany to make last-ditch plea to Joe Biden to extend Afghanistan evacuation deadline in G7 talks TODAY
- The chances of extension to the August 31 deadline for withdrawing US forces from Kabul look to be receding
- UK, France and Germany expected to make final plea to the US president at virtual G7 talks on the crisis today
- Boris Johnson and Joe Biden discussed the evacuation last night but seemed to make no significant progressThere were extraordinary signs of backroom dealing between the US and Taliban today as Joe Biden faces a mounting clamour to extend the August 31 deadline for withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan.
The head of the CIA is reported to have held talks with the leader of the new regime, as Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel push the case for keeping the evacuation operation in place longer.
However, Mr Biden still looks to be defying international and domestic pressure to prolong the airlift, even though it means troops might have to start focusing on their own exit plan within 24 hours.
A call with Mr Johnson last night failed to make any progress, while the Taliban has warned of 'consequences' if there is an attempt to cling on.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace conceded this morning it is 'unlikely' the deadline will be extended, after the RAF extracted another 2,000 people in the past 24 hours. Berlin and and Paris have also been ramping up their evacuation, but there are still thousands of desperate people waiting to be taken to safety.
'I think it is unlikely. Not only because of what the Taliban has said but if you look at the public statements of President Biden I think it is unlikely,' Mr Wallace said.
'It is definitely worth us all trying, and we will.'
Efforts are continuing to get Mr Biden to change his approach, with the US chair of the House Intelligence Committee warning he is 'unlikely' to meet the current timetable for evacuating America citizens and their allies.
Adam Schiff made the grim prediction after an intelligence briefing, saying completing the operation was 'possible' but 'very unlikely given the number of Americans who still need to be evacuated' as well as other people promised protection.
Tory MP Tom Tugendhat – who served as an Army officer in Afghanistan – said all the UK could do was 'ask the Americans if they're willing to stand with us'.
He added: 'If they're not then we can't secure the perimeter and we can't manage air traffic control, so if the Americans decide to go now I'm afraid that is it. But we can ask.'
Mr Tugendhat said he understands Joe Biden has to make 'a very difficult decision', but said many families are struggling to get through the gate and 'a day, maybe two days longer, would help just a few more'.
In other developments in the Afghanistan crisis today:
- The Ministry of Defence says 8,458 people have been evacuated by the RAF since August 13, including 5,171 Afghan locals who supported Western forces;
- CIA Director William J Burns is reported to have held a secret meeting in Kabul on Monday with the Taliban's de facto leader Abdul Ghani Baradar - the highest level contact between the US and extremist regime so far;
- Mr Wallace today rebuked a former Royal Marine for complaining that UK forces are blocking a charter flight from taking his staff and rescue dogs out of Kabul;
- Councils are set to get grants from the government to rent or buy large homes for thousands of Afghan refugees coming to the UK;
- Afghanistan faces an 'humanitarian catastrophe' this winter, the UN World Food Programme has said as it called for £145million in donations.
CIA Director William Burns (left) went to Kabul on Monday for a secret meeting with the Taliban's de facto leader Abdul Ghani Baradar (right)
An aerial view of the chaos at the airport in Kabul amid the efforts to airlift vulnerable people and foreign nationals
Diplomats insist that the situation on the ground has improved since the weekend with more people being allowed into the airport, but satellite images showed huge crowds continuing to mass
The US said some 16,000 people were flown out of Kabul between Sunday morning and Monday afternoon, with thousands more due to leave the country today (pictured, a satellite image shows people boarding a military plane)
There are still huge crowds around the airport at Kabul with people desperately trying to get out of the country
Taliban fighters stand guard on cargo crates near the airport in these stills from footage taken by ITN News
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Pentagon chiefs poured cold water on an extension yesterday insisting they were 'focused on getting this done by the end of the month'.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the President was 'taking this day by day' and will make his decision on an extension 'as we go'.
But he said the President still believes 'we have time between now and August 31 to get out any American who wants to get out'.
The Taliban has warned that any Western military operation in Afghanistan that continued into September would breach a 'red line' and would 'provoke a reaction'.
Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the militants, told Sky News: 'If the US or UK were to seek additional time to continue evacuations – the answer is no.
'Or there would be consequences. It will create mistrust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occupation, so it will provoke a reaction.'
In a further warning, a senior Taliban commander last night told the Mail: 'If American troops… can't leave on [the] agreed deadline then they will face the consequences. Our fighters are ready to deal with them.'
However, there are reports that CIA Director William J Burns held a secret meeting in Kabul on Monday with the Taliban's de facto leader Abdul Ghani Baradar - the highest level contact between the US and extremist regime so far.
The Washington Post said the discussions were thought to be over the US withdrawal deadline.
Mr Wallace said the danger at Kabul airport will rise the closer the evacuation effort gets to the departure deadline.
'As we get closer to the deadline I think it's correct to say the security risk goes up,' he said.
'It just gets more and more dangerous as add-on groups and other terrorist groups such as IS (so-called Islamic State) would like to be seen to take greater credit, or like to be seen to chase the West out of the airport, that is inevitably going to feed their narrative and their ambitions.
'We are very mindful that we are very, very vulnerable should these terrorists choose to do something.'
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said this morning it is 'unlikely' the deadline will be extended, after the RAF extracted another 2,000 people in the past 24 hours
US marines man a checkpoint during evacuations at Hamid Karzai International Airport, Kabul, on Monday
Taliban guards marshal crowds outside the airport where it is thought 6,500 people are now waiting to board flights
A line of people are led through a military checkpoint at Kabul airport which has witnessed frantic scenes over the last 10 days as people try to flee Afghanistan and Taliban rule
Hopes that Joe Biden (left) will extend America's August 31 deadline to leave Afghanistan are fading, with Boris Johnson (right) making a last-ditch plea today
Mr Wallace warned that there was a risk it would turn into a 'shooting war' as tensions rise in the coming days.
'Obviously, all military personnel have the right of self-defence to protect themselves and protect civilians immediately near them,' he told LBC.
'I suspect that it will be a mixture of- well I can't speculate what we would do but we certainly have plans, if we're attacked, to defend ourselves.
'I don't think anyone wants this to turn into a shooting war in the last few days.'
He added: 'I don't think they want a shooting war either. They want us out as quickly as possible and we want to get out with as many people as possible.'
The Ministry of Defence said nearly 8,500 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan by the UK since August 13.
In a update on Operation Pitting, the MoD said on Twitter: '8,458 people have been evacuated by the UK since 13 August. 5,171 of those people are Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy claimants. Nine UK military flights have left Kabul in the last 24 hours.'
The US has ramped up airlifts to evacuate more than 17,000 people in a day and Joe Biden has finally ordered troops to rescue Americans outside the airport in a race against time before the August 31 deadline.
Washington pulled off its biggest haul of evacuations since the crisis started over the last 24 hours to early Monday morning, with 28 military jets rescuing around 10,400 people. Another 15 C-17 flights over the next 12 hours brought out another 6,660.
Meanwhile, US Special Operations rescued 16 Americans from an unspecified location around two hours outside Kabul. The Pentagon revealed it was carried out by helicopter without disclosing further details.
It has emerged that Mr Biden told military officials he was reluctant to deploy US forces outside the Kabul airport perimeter over fears of a Black Hawk Down-style tragedy.
In a video conference last week, the president also negatively commented on how quickly the Afghan government fell apart and told commanders he wanted them to be focused on beefing up security at the airport.
During the call, the president alluded to the 'Black Hawk Down' tragedy of the Somali Civil War, which saw 18 US personnel killed.
Thousands of Afghans are due to fly out of Kabul airport today as huge crowds continued to swarm military checkpoints (left and right) with the August 31 deadline for mercy flights now looming large
Zakia Khudadadi, 23, would have been the first female to represent Afghanistan at the Paralympics
Mr Tugendhat told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'We're all asking for the same thing. I support the Prime Minister completely on this, but let's recognise what we're asking – we're not just asking the Americans, although clearly they'll have a major role, we're actually asking the Taliban, and that's a really difficult thing, because bluntly, they're not exactly trustworthy.'
It emerged last night that Western powers are negotiating with the Taliban on the possibility of civilian flights being used in the evacuation, even if the military flights stopped.
German foreign minister Heiko Maas said: 'We are holding talks with the US, Turkey and other partners with the goal of allowing the airport to continue to operate a civilian operation to fly these people out.'
Germany will 'also continue to talk to the Taliban about this and will do this after the withdrawal of US troops', he added.
Mr Wallace said: 'I don't think there is any likelihood of staying on after the United States.'
Armed Forces minister James Heappey conceded that the Taliban 'gets a vote' on the evacuation deadline.
'We have the military power to just stay there by force, but I don't know that the humanitarian mission we're embarked on... is helped by Kabul becoming a war zone,' he said.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the President was 'taking this day by day' and will make his decision on an extension 'as we go' Asked about the Taliban spokesman's remarks, the Prime Minister's spokesman said: 'I don't think we've had any direct communication to that end.'
He added that 'discussions on the ground' have been held with the Taliban over extending the deadline.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said: 'We're focused on getting this done before the end of the month.'
But he said the US would 'absolutely consider the views' of allies.
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