Aug. 24 (UPI) — The Group of Seven will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday morning to go over the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan as the United States and other western powers continue to try and evacuate citizens and Afghans from Kabul.
Some Western allies have been pushing U.S. President Joe Biden to extend his Aug. 31 deadline for all U.S. military personnel to leave the country, and Biden has expressed a willingness to do so.
Tuesday’s meeting, which will be a virtual summit, comes amid international criticism over the way Biden handled the Afghanistan withdrawal. The Taliban militant group swiftly took over control of the country this month and the American government has been working nonstop to try and airlift the remaining citizens and Afghan aides out of an increasingly destabilized Afghanistan.
Biden could decide as soon as Tuesday whether to extend the deadline to give more time to continue evacuations from Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.
Biden was scheduled to participate in Tuesday’s summit at 9:30 a.m. EDT, according to the White House schedule. The president will then give public remarks at noon to outline the summit and discuss “ongoing efforts” to evacuate American citizens and Afghans.
Officials have said about 5,800 U.S. troopers are on the ground in Kabul assisting with the evacuation effort. CNN reported that roughly 6,500 people were waiting for flights early Tuesday.
Britain, which has evacuated 6,000 people over the past 10 days said evacuation operations are down to “hours, not weeks.” Still, Britain is working with the United States to coordinate a complete troop withdrawal by the end of the month.
NBC News and The Washington Post reported Tuesday that CIA Director William Burns met secretly on Monday with Taliban leader Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Baradar was the Taliban’s lead negotiator in peace talks with the United States in Qatar last year that resulted in an agreement with the Trump administration to withdraw U.S. forces.
British defense minister Ben Wallace warned that the Taliban could use force to close the airport if the United States tries to extend the evacuation deadline.
Wallace said he’s doubtful that Biden will extend the deadline and the Taliban has opposed an extension, calling it a hard “red line” not to be crossed.
The Group of Seven, which includes six NATO-member nations and Japan, last met for a summit in Britain in June.