Not everyone will get out of Afghanistan within August 31 deadline, warn UK, Spain

With the Taliban warning the US of “consequences” if the August 31 deadline for evacuation process is delayed, the United Kingdom and Spain have said it would be impossible to evacuate all Afghans who worked with the western forces within the deadline.

Spanish defence minister Margarita Robles said the country will try to evacuate as many people as possible. “But there are people who will be left behind due to the dramatic situation on the ground”, she was quoted as saying by local media.

Earlier in the day, her UK counterpart Ben Wallace, too, issued a similar warning.

“Not everyone would be evacuated before the August 31 deadline agreed with the Taliban,” the BBC quoted Wallace as saying.

“We have taken out 2,000 people in the last 24 hours and 10,000 since April,” Wallace said.

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On Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said his group “will not accept” any extensions to the August 31 deadline set by United States President Biden for ending the airlift operation in Kabul.

Meanwhile, CIA Director William Burns was alleged to have secretly met Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Kabul on Monday to hold talks on extending the evacuation deadline, the Washington Post reported.

(With inputs from agencies)