Central Intelligence Agency’s director William Burns reportedly held a secret meeting with Taliban’s de facto leader Abdul Ghani Baradar on Monday. This comes as Joe Biden’s administration is facing pressure to extend the Afghanistan evacuation date that is currently set at August 31. 

The details of what seems like the highest-level meeting between the Taliban and the United States since the former took effective control of Afghanistan, have not been revealed yet. The Washington Post quoted unnamed US officials to confirm that the meeting took place. The CIA has declined to comment on the Taliban meeting.

The G-7  leaders will meet virtually on Tuesday to speak on the situation in Afghanistan amongst other global concerns. The United States is trying to carry out what President Joe Biden described as ‘one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history. The American leader is expected to make a decision on a potential extension of the Afghanistan withdrawal deadline. 

Baradar was arrested in a joint operation by the CIA and Pakistani forces 11 years ago. He spent eight years in prison. He served as the Taliban’s chief negotiator in peace talks with the United States in Qatar. In November 2020, he posed for a photo with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Also read: Taliban must honour commitments with respect to women’s rights: UNHCR chief

Before the details of the secret meeting were revealed, State Department spokesman Ned Price  was quoted saying, Our discussions with the Taliban have been operational, tactical, they have been focused largely on our near-term operations and near-term goals … what is going on at the airport compound … that is what we’re focused on at the moment.”

In a tweet on Monday, the White House wrote, “Since August 14, the US has evacuated and facilitated the evacuation of approximately 48,000 people. Since the end of July, we have re-located approximately 53,000 people.”