Justin Trudeau advocates sanctions against Taliban, says 'it is a terrorist organization'

Ahead of the virtual meeting of the leaders of the G7 countries, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pushed for the "sanctions" against the Taliban and called it a terrorist organization, as he supported United Kingdom’s stance that advocated for global sanctions. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden have both claimed that they wouldn’t recognize a Taliban government that has “taken control by force.”

"Certainly, we are looking (for) more sanctions," Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau assured the press reporters on Tuesday, adding that the Taliban are “already recognized as a terrorist entity in Canada.” The Canadian leader emphasized that he would speak with the G7 counterparts “to see what the next steps will be.”

"In our conversation with the other G7 leaders, we will talk about how we can do even more to help people in Afghanistan,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated in his remark to the Canadian press reporters on Aug. 23. Although, he refused to divulge the details about Canada’s position on the extension of the evacuation operations beyond the Aug. 31 deadline. 

Canada is among the countries [Germany, United States, France, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom] that will shortly convene virtually for "talks urgent matters ”on the situation in Afghanistan. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose country holds the presidency of the G7, is expected to request US commander-in-chief, Joe Biden, to push the Taliban to grant the longer presence of the US and allied forces troops for evacuation missions.

While Biden has remained sceptical about the extension of the Aug. 31 deadline amid the Taliban’s warnings of staying the drawdown beyond what it calls the ‘red line,’ the US had earlier stated that it would support the UK in its effort to impose sanctions on the Taliban. "It depends on the behaviour" of the Taliban, US President Joe Biden told reporters at the White House. 

'There will be consequences' if US troops didn't exit, says Taliban 

Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen had earlier told Sky News in Doha that there will be ‘consequences’ if the US troops did not completely withdraw on the agreed August 31 deadline. "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 it will provoke a reaction,” Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen said in his remarks to the network. Meanwhile, the US Department of Defence press secretary John Kirby told a press conference, referring to the Taliban’s threat:  "We have seen the public statements by the Taliban spokesman about their views on 31 August, I think we all understand that view."