Biden says US will complete Afghan pullout by August 31
WASHINGTON, United States — President Joe Biden said Tuesday the United States intends to complete its pullout from Afghanistan by August 31 and needs to withdraw rapidly because of a growing risk of terrorist attacks.
"The sooner we can finish, the better," Biden said of the plan to evacuate Americans, Afghan nationals and US troops from Taliban-controlled Kabul.
"Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops."
The US president said he had discussed the evacuation with Group of Seven leaders earlier Tuesday and they agreed to "continue our close cooperation to get people out as efficiently and safely as possible."
"We are currently on the pace to finish by August 31," said Biden, who has been under pressure from some European leaders to extend the deadline to ensure the evacuation of everyone who is seeking to flee the country.
He said meeting the August 31 deadline was contingent "upon the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport for those who we're transporting out."
"I've asked the Pentagon and the State Department for contingency plans to adjust the timetable should that become necessary," Biden added.
The Taliban have been "taking steps to work with us" so far, Biden said, but there is an "acute and growing risk of an attack by a terrorist group known as ISIS-K," or Islamic State-Khorasan.
"Every day we're on the ground is another day we know that ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both US and allied forces and innocent civilians," he said.
US-led troops have ramped up operations to get thousands of people out of Kabul by August 31 — the deadline set by the US before the fall of the capital for all foreign troops to have pulled out.
Biden said the United States has evacuated 70,700 people since August 14 — the day before the Taliban took power in Kabul — including 6,400 in the past 12 hours.
US officials said more than 4,000 Americans were among those flown out of Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital.
Several thousand other people have been evacuated by allied European nations, such as Germany and the United Kingdom.
'It will not be enough'
The Taliban urged skilled Afghans not to flee the country on Tuesday and warned the United States and its NATO allies they would not accept an extension to the evacuation deadline.
A spokesman for the hardline Islamist group told America to stop taking "Afghan experts," such as engineers and doctors, out of the country.
"This country needs their expertise. They should not be taken to other countries," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told a press conference in the capital.
European nations have said they would not be able to airlift all at-risk Afghans before the August 31 cut-off, and Biden has faced calls from all corners to extend the evacuation window.
Mujahid said the Islamist group opposes an extension.
"They have planes, they have the airport, they should get their citizens and contractors out of here," he said.
Germany said Tuesday Western allies simply cannot fly out every Afghan who needs protection before the cut-off date.
"Even if (the evacuation) goes on until August 31 or even a few days longer, it will not be enough," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told Bild TV.
France said it would have to end evacuations from Kabul's airport on Thursday if the United States stuck to the deadline, and Spain said it would not be able to rescue all Afghans who served Spanish missions.
Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said Taliban checkpoints and violence were making it difficult for people to reach Kabul airport to catch one of Spain's daily military flights out of Afghanistan.
EU leaders at the G7 meeting urged Biden to continue to secure Kabul airport until operations to evacuate vulnerable Afghans are complete.
Many Afghans fear a repeat of the brutal interpretation of Islamic law that the Taliban implemented when first in power from 1996-2001, or retribution for working with the US-backed government over the past two decades.
On Tuesday, Mujahid said female Afghan government workers should stay home until security conditions in the country improve.
Secret meeting
Meanwhile, the World Bank said it has suspended aid to Afghanistan and was "deeply concerned" about the situation there after the Taliban seized power, especially for the prospects of women.
"We have paused disbursements in our operations in Afghanistan and we are closely monitoring and assessing the situation," a World Bank official said.
The World Bank has more than two dozen development projects ongoing in the country and has provided $5.3 billion since 2002, mostly in grants, according to the bank's website.
The Taliban achieved their stunning victory after Biden pulled out nearly all American troops from Afghanistan, following through on a deal struck with the movement by former president Donald Trump.
However, Biden was forced to redeploy thousands of troops after the fall of Kabul to oversee the airlift.
According to The Washington Post, US Central Intelligence Agency chief William Burns held a secret meeting in Kabul on Monday with Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, although no details were reported and neither the CIA nor the Taliban confirmed it.
The rush to leave Kabul has sparked harrowing scenes and left at least eight people dead.
The Taliban have repeatedly claimed to be different from their 1990s incarnation, and have declared an amnesty for government forces and officials.
But an intelligence assessment conducted for the United Nations said militants were going door-to-door hunting former government officials and those who worked with US and NATO forces. — with David Fox in Kabul
Get the latest news as Taliban gains control of Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera/AFP
Afghanistan's supreme leader said Sunday the country's women were being saved from "traditional oppressions" by the adoption of Islamic governance and their status as "free and dignified human beings" restored.
In a statement marking this week's Eid al-Adha holiday, Hibatullah Akhundzada -- who rarely appears in public and rules by decree from the Taliban's birthplace in Kandahar -- said steps had been taken to provide women with a "comfortable and prosperous life according to Islamic Sharia".
The United Nations expressed "deep concern" last week that women were being deprived of their rights under Afghanistan's Taliban government and warned of systematic gender apartheid.
Since returning to power in August 2021, Taliban authorities have stopped girls and women from attending high school or university, banned them from parks, gyms and public baths, and ordered them to cover up when leaving home.
They have also barred them from working for the UN or NGOs, while most female government employees have been dismissed from their jobs or are being paid to stay at home.
However, Akhundzada said "necessary steps have been taken for the betterment of women as half of the society".
"All institutions have been obliged to help women in securing marriage, inheritance and other rights," his statement read. — AFP
UN chief Antonio Guterres will gather international envoys at a secret location in Doha on Monday in an increasingly desperate bid to find ways to influence Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. — AFP
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Thursday calling on Taliban authorities to "swiftly reverse" all restrictive measures against women, condemning in particular its ban on Afghan women working for the United Nations.
The resolution, unanimously adopted by all 15 Council members, said the ban announced in early April "undermines human rights and humanitarian principles."
More broadly, the Council called on the Taliban government to "swiftly reverse the policies and practices that restrict the enjoyment by women and girls of their human rights and fundamental freedoms."
It cited access to education, employment, freedom of movement, and "women's full, equal and meaningful participation in public life."
The Council also urged "all States and organizations to use their influence" to "promote an urgent reversal of these policies and practices." — AFP
G7 foreign ministers on Tuesday demanded the "immediate reversal" of a ban on women in Afghanistan working for non-governmental organisations and the United Nations.
"We call for the immediate reversal of unacceptable decisions restricting human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the latest bans prohibiting Afghan women from working for NGOs and the UN," the top diplomats said in a statement after two days of talks in Japan.
The group also slammed the Taliban authorities' "systematic abuses of human rights of women and girls and discrimination against the members of religious and ethnic minorities".
Taliban authorities triggered international outrage this month after extending a December ban on Afghan women working for non-governmental organisations to include the UN.
They have rejected criticism over the move, saying it is an internal issue that should be "respected by all sides." — AFP
The United Nations is being forced to make an "appalling choice" over whether to continue operations in Afghanistan while the Taliban government bans women from working for the organisation, the world body says.
Under their austere interpretation of Islam, Taliban authorities have imposed a slew of restrictions on Afghan women since seizing power in 2021, including banning them from higher education and many government jobs.
In December, they banned Afghan women from working for domestic and foreign non-governmental organisations, and on April 4 extended that to UN offices across the country.
In a statement Tuesday, the UN mission in Afghanistan said the ban was "unlawful under international law, including the UN Charter, and for that reason the United Nations cannot comply".
"Through this ban, the Taliban de facto authorities seek to force the United Nations into having to make an appalling choice between staying and delivering in support of the Afghan people and standing by the norms and principles we are duty-bound to uphold," it said. — AFP
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