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London — The U.S. government is unlikely to extend the evacuation period to allow more time for citizens and Afghans to fly out of Kabul, British Defense Minister Ben Wallace said in an emergency meeting by G7 leaders. Said prior to.
U.S. President Joe Biden extends August 31 deadline to evacuate thousands trying to flee the Taliban in Afghanistan at a virtual meeting of leaders of seven wealthy country groups on Tuesday You will face pressure.
The Taliban said it would reject any request by the Western Army to extend the deadline to give more time to complete the evacuation operation.
Biden said he did not want to extend the deadline on Sunday, but negotiations were underway.
“I don’t think it’s likely,” Wallace told Sky News. “If you look at the official statement of President Byden, not just what the Taliban said.”
“It’s definitely worth trying for all of us, and we’ll do that,” he added.
Wallace said the Taliban could attack the airport or block people’s arrival if the Western troops did not depart by the deadline.
“If the airport is attacked, it will be effectively closed and mortars will be fired on the runway, leaving a huge humanitarian problem,” he said.
Wallace said British troops were unlikely to continue their evacuation efforts in Kabul without the presence of US troops.
In the future, Mr Wallace said Britain prefers the United States as a military ally, but may appear to form an alliance with other nations for certain operations.
“In reality, it can be in our interest to work with other partners, and we need much more interoperability rather than dependence,” he said.
According to Wallace, Britain has evacuated about 8,600 people from Afghanistan in the last two weeks, of which 2,000 have been evacuated in the last 24 hours. However, given the limited time it takes for the evacuation window to close, “I’m not going to take everyone out,” he added.
By Andrew MacAskill
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