Afghanistan Crisis: CIA Director Meets With Taliban Leader in Kabul
- The White House is working towards getting an extension to evacuate US citizens and its allies in Afghanistan
- To achieve this, CIA director, William J. Burns met face-to-face with a top Taliban leader in Kabul as tension rises over the deadline
- The Taliban had earlier declared that any extension of the date would violate an agreed deal weeks ago
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Kabul - A report by Washington Post indicates that the director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the US, William J. Burns met face-to-face with a top Taliban leader in Kabul on Monday, August 23.
Officials quoted in the report said the two officials may have met due to the looming Tuesday, August 31 deadline issued to the US and its allies to leave Afghanistan by the Taliban.
Source: Getty Images
According to the report, the Biden administration has been in regular contact with Taliban officials throughout the course of the evacuation process, both on the ground in Afghanistan and in Doha, Qatar.
An unnamed US official told CNN that Taliban co-founder and deputy leader Abdul Ghani Baradar met with Burns in what is now described as the highest-level direct exchange of views since the militant group took control of Kabul.
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The official also noted that the meeting also underscores the view by the Biden administration that they need a clearer understanding of where the Taliban stands on several issues.
Afghanistan–Pakistan border barrier
Meanwhile, in the wake of a possible surge of violence in Afghanistan following the takeover of government by the Taliban, Pakistan has been advised to allow more refugees into its domain.
A US senior State Department official gave this admonition while briefing journalists on the new US refugee admission programme for fleeing Afghans.
The US official said in a situation like the current happenings in the US, it is important that Pakistan let its border remain open to more refugees, though there is a slim possibility of Pakistan taking more Afghans seeking asylum from the Taliban.
Facts about Taliban
Legit.ng had earlier reported that the Taliban came to prominence in 1994 during the Afghan Civil War, its ranks composed largely of students.
Many of the students had been mujahideen resistance fighters who had battled occupation by the Soviet Union in the 1980s.
The Taliban was led by Mullah Mohammed Omar and conquered first the province of Herat and then the whole country by September 1996, overthrowing the Burhanuddin Rabbani regime and establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Source: Legit.ng
