UK pushes Taliban to extend Kabul exit date for Western troops | Afghanistan

[ad_1]

The UK is preparing to call on the Taliban to extend the August 31 deadline for Western forces to leave Kabul, while accepting that it will not be able to airlift all those eligible to leave Kabul. Afghanistan.

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey confirmed the UK will try to persuade Americans to stay in Kabul longer at a G7 meeting on Tuesday. Speaking to Sky News, he also said the UK was ready to urge the Taliban to agree to extend the deadline, regardless of the US decision.

He said: Whether or not the United States can be persuaded to stay is a question for the prime minister tomorrow at the G7 meeting, then the conversation with the Taliban will follow.

He added: The Taliban will have a choice: they can either seek to engage with the international community, or they can turn around and say, no, there is no possibility of an extension. It is not only the discussion that will take place tomorrow between the leaders of the G7. This is a discussion that then takes place with the Taliban.

But the Taliban have made it clear that the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan must be completed by the end of this month. Speaking to Sky from Doha, its spokesperson, Suhail Shaheen, said: If they intend to continue the occupation, it will provoke a backlash.

Heappey confirmed that the presence of the British armed forces in Kabul was based on the involvement of the United States. He said: The mission in Kabul this week is fundamentally supported by a US presence. There is a harsh reality, but there would be no international airlift without the way the United States supports it.

If there is an opportunity to stay we will, but for now our military planning is focused on leaving on the 31st.

Heappey revealed that 1,821 people were evacuated from Kabul on eight Royal Airforce flights in a recent 24-hour period and 6,631 were airlifted in the past week.

The Guardian has revealed that 300 former G4S employees who guard the UK Embassy and World Bank in Kabul have been denied a place under the Afghan Resettlement and Assistance Policy (Arap).

Heappey did not refer directly to their plight, but said: As cases have been put forward for more people from Afghan civil society to be evacuated, these names have been added.

He said the goal was to evacuate around 1,800 UK passport holders and 2,275 people already accepted under the Arap program. He conceded: There are thousands more that we would like to get out of, if there is the time and the ability.

He added: There have been a huge number of civil society people, who weren’t in our plans, there was no eligibility, they weren’t part of Arap, but the UK government is trying to do whatever it takes. We will try to squeeze out as many as possible, but that poses a great military challenge. There is a harsh reality that we will not be able to make known to everyone we want.

Heappey also said those who remain should make their way to safety by land and sea: the airlift is not the only route out of Afghanistan. There is a second phase to this, where people can be resettled in the UK, after being treated, either at a treatment center in a refugee camp or at one of our embassies or high commissions in the region.

[ad_2]