Afghanistan: UK, Spain warn 'not everyone' will be evacuated as US sticks to deadline

While the Taliban have said that it will not extend the 31 August for the ongoing evacuation missions in Afghanistan, the UK and Spain have warned that it would be impossible to take out all Afghans who worked with the western forces within that time bracket. This comes after Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid stated that even though the foreign nationals could continue travelling to the airport, the Afghans will not be allowed to leave the country. The insurgents, who took over Afghanistan on 15 August, also warned that the United States must stick to its own deadline of the month-end to withdraw all troops.

As a frantic Western evacuation operation at Kabul airport picked up the pace, Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles said that the European nation would try to evacuate as many people as possible but warned “there are people who will be left behind due to the dramatic situation on the ground,” as quoted by local media outlets.

Meanwhile, UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace Wallace was quoted by BBC as saying that, “Not everyone would be evacuated before the 31 August deadline agreed with the Taliban...We have taken out 2,000 people in the last 24 hours and 10,000 since April.” The Taliban spokesman Mujahid said that the Taliban “will not accept” any extensions to the 31 August set by US President Joe Biden for ending the airlift operation at the Afghan capital of Kabul. 

Biden sticks to the 31 August deadline

Even as the western nations struggle to complete evacuation, US President Joe Biden on 24 August declared that he has decided to stick to his 31 August deadline for completing the chaotic airlift of US citizens, vulnerable Afghans and others who are seeking to leave the war-ravaged nation. Biden’s decision reportedly contradicts the allied leaders who were hoping for an extension of the deadline, triggering criticism against the US President.

The US President said, “We are currently on pace to finish by 31 August.  The sooner we can finish, the better.  Each day of operations brings added risk to our troops. But the completion by 31 August depends upon the Taliban continuing to cooperate and allow access to the airport for those -- we’re transporting out and no disruptions to our operations.”

“Every day we’re on the ground is another day that we know ISIS-K is seeking to target the airport and attack both us and allied forces and innocent civilians,” Biden added while referring to the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan affiliate, which is, according to Associated Press, known for staging suicide attacks on civilians.

(IMAGE: AP)