Taliban warn of ‘consequences’ if US, UK delay troop withdrawal

The Taliban have warned of “consequences” if Western countries extend the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan beyond the August 31 deadline announced by United States President Joe Biden. “If they are intent on continuing the occupation it will provoke a reaction,” the Taliban’s spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Sky News from Doha, Qatar. “It’s a red line,” Shaheen said about the possibility of the US or UK seeking additional time to continue evacuations. “The answer is no. Or there would be consequences.”

No Western government or official had approached the Taliban to discuss the matter, Reuters quoted sources as saying.

US President Joe Biden on Sunday said his administration was discussing the possibly of extending the deadline amid criticism over the hasty withdrawal which saw the Afghan government collapse on August 15 within a week of a countrywide offensive by the Taliban.

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The Hamid Karzai International Airport in capital city Kabul has witnessed chaotic scenes with thousands of Afghans trying to flee the country since the Taliban takeover. 

The United Kingdom is prepared to appeal to the Taliban to extend the deadline and try to persuade the US to stay longer in Kabul at an emergency meeting of the G7 convened by British prime minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday.

“Whether or not the US can be persuaded to stay is a matter for the prime minister tomorrow at the G7 meeting, the conversation with the Taliban will then follow,” James Heappey, the UK’s Minister for the Armed Forces, told Sky News.

Heappey said the Taliban can either engage with the international community or refuse to extend the deadline.

The UK has airlifted 6,631 people from Afghanistan over the past week and is focused on evacuation of about 1,800 UK passport-holders, and 2,275 people accepted on the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy.