Biden says Aug. 31 Afghan pullout depends on Taliban co-operation

The latest:

• Pentagon working oncontingency plan to Aug. 31 withdrawal 'should it be necessary,' Biden says.
• Canadian forces to remainas long as securitypermits, Trudeau says.
• G7 leaders agree on conditions to deal with Taliban, but disappointed in timing of U.S. withdrawal.
• Special forces working outside of Kabul airport to escort Canadians, Afghans onto flights to Canada.
• Violence, poverty and terrorism: Afghanistan fears a bleak, unpredictable future under the Taliban.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesdaythe United States is on pace to finish evacuations fromAfghanistan by Aug. 31, but left open the chance of the deadlinebeing extended, saying reaching that goal is dependent oncontinued co-operation from the country's new Taliban rulers.

The Taliban said earlier on Tuesday that all foreignevacuations from the country must be completed by Aug. 31.

In remarks at the White House, Biden said the United Stateswas racing to meet that deadline as concerns mount over thethreat of militant attacks.

"The sooner we can finish, the better," Biden said. "Eachday of operations brings added risk to our troops."

Continued coordination with the Taliban remains crucial tomeeting the deadline, he said, but he called it a "tenuoussituation" with a "serious risk of breaking down as time goeson."

WATCH | U.S. warns Taliban to stay out of the way ahead of Aug. 31 withdrawal:

U.S. warns Taliban to stay out of the way ahead of Aug. 31 withdrawal

3 years ago

Duration 2:39

U.S. President Joe Biden warned the Taliban to stay out of the way as efforts to rescue people from Afghanistan continue ahead of an Aug. 31 withdrawal of American troops. Biden was firm on the timeline, despite calls from other G7 countries to stay longer to allow for more evacuation flights.

Biden said he asked the Pentagon and the State Department todevelop contingency plans to push past the deadline should thatprove necessary.

Also Tuesday, two members of U.S. Congress flew unannounced into Kabul airport in the middle of the ongoing chaotic evacuation, stunning State Department and U.S. military personnel who had to divert resources to provide security and information to the lawmakers, U.S. officials said.

Rep. Seth Moulton, a Democrat from Massachusetts, and Republican Rep. Peter Meijer ofMichigan flew in and out on charter aircraft and were on the ground at the Kabul airport for several hours.

"As Members of Congress, we have a duty to provide oversight onthe executive branch,"' the two said in a statement.

Canada to remain as long as it is safe

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the virtual G7 meeting with the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S.

After the meeting, Trudeau said Canada will remain in Afghanistan beyond Aug. 31 to help evacuate more Canadians and eligible Afghans if the security situation permits.

"I emphasized that Canada is ready to stay beyond the 31st deadline if it's at all possible, because we want to save as many people as possible and Canadians are ready to work to try and do that," Trudeau said.

The hardline Islamist Taliban told the thousands of Afghanscrowding into the airport in the hope of boarding flights thatthey had nothing to fear and should go home.

"We guarantee their security," Taliban spokesman ZabihullahMujahid told a news conference in the capital, which Talibanfighters seized on Aug. 15.

The Pentagon said several hundred U.S. troops had departedKabul under a previously scheduled move but that it would notaffect evacuation efforts.

The U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed as the UnitedStates and its allies withdrew troops two decades after theyousted the Taliban in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001,attacks on the United States by al-Qaeda militants, whoseleaders had found safe haven in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

WATCH | Has the Taliban changed?

Will the Taliban allow terror groups to grow in Afghanistan?

3 years ago

Duration 2:29

The Taliban has a history of protecting terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and allowing them to thrive and some experts are concerned their takeover of Afghanistan will lead to a growth of more terror groups.

The Taliban has appointed a former Guantanamo detainee, MullahAbdul Qayyum Zakir, as acting defence minister, the Qatar-basedAl Jazeera news channel said, citing a Taliban source.

The executive director of the World Food Programme, DavidBeasley, said relations between Afghanistan's new government and the rest of the worldneed to be worked out fast because thecombination of conflict, drought and the COVID-19 pandemic meantthat 14 million Afghans could soon face starvation.

Guantanamo detainee appointed minister

Many Afghans fear reprisals and a return to a harsh versionof sharia law that the Taliban enforced when in powerfrom 1996 to 2001, in particular the repression of women.

Mujahid said there was no list of people targeted forreprisals and the group was trying to come up with a procedureso women could return to work.

UNhuman rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the UnitedNations would be watching closely.

"A fundamental red line will be the Taliban's treatment ofwomen and girls," she told an emergency session of the UNHuman Rights Council in Geneva.

Bacheleton Tuesday called for strong action to investigate reports of rights abuses.

"At this critical moment, the people of Afghanistan look to the Human Rights Council to defend and protect their rights," she said.

Bachelet cited reports of "summary executions" of civilians and former security forces who were no longer fighting, the recruitment of child soldiers, and restrictions on the rights of women to move around freely and of girls to go to school. She cited repression of peaceful protests and expressions of dissent.

Bachelet did not specify what timeframe she was referring to or the source of her reports.

Days earlier, a Norway-based private intelligence group said it obtained evidence that the Taliban have rounded up Afghans on a list of people they believe worked in key roles with the previous Afghan administration or with U.S.-led forces.

Many Afghans are in hiding, saying they fear such reprisals.